


i don’t wanna pretend (that you’re only my friend)

by niallszayn



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 06:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15813732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niallszayn/pseuds/niallszayn
Summary: niall and nick pretend to be dating. that's it. (obviously.)





	i don’t wanna pretend (that you’re only my friend)

**Author's Note:**

> i started writing this around the time it's set: january 2018. then life got in the way, and other fics with deadlines took priority - but here we finally are! i've been so excited about this fic for so long now, i really hope you like it!!  
> i don't know anything about nick's living situation these days (or niall's for that matter) so let's just say everything you find that's not true is creative freedom! (as is everything, considering this is a work of fiction lol)
> 
> the usual: don't know them, don't own them, PLEASE don't share with them

Letting Harry talk him into going to any party has always been a bad decision, but letting Harry drag him to an industry party is way worse, Niall realises the moment he walks into the fancy location. He knows people, sure, but he doesn’t like any of them. This is one of those events people go to purely to be seen, to make sure everyone knows how important they are.

Harry ditches him a minute in to talk to a supermodel or something, so Niall starts looking for the bar as a starting point. Once he’s got a pint in his hand, he can start thinking about how he’s gonna get out of here as quickly as possible. People stop him along the way and he does the whole charade, remembers their name if he’s met them before, is charming and answers all their questions (“Yes, we still plan on reuniting, yes, doing things solo is different but exciting, no, none of us are bored of 1D”) and manages not to roll his eyes at the same questions he’s been hearing for over two years now.

Finally at the bar, he orders a pint and leans back against the counter to scan the crowd in the repurposed warehouse they’re in. He spots Harry quickly, surrounded by adoring people and snorts into his glass quietly. He loves the man, but Harry revels in this kind of attention, and Niall does not.

“Niall Horan!” someone says too close to his ear, stressing the last syllable and pronouncing it as in “the runner ran” like only one person does, which is the only reason he doesn’t jump and spill his beer.

“Nick Grimshaw,” he says, turning to the radio DJ with a grin. “Still can’t pronounce my name, I see.”

Nick winces and pulls a face. “Still wrong? Guess I’ll never figure it out, then.”

“I don’t know why it’s so hard for you to remember that it’s WHORE-an,” Niall laughs, “but it’s okay. I’ve heard it all.”

“Maybe I should call you Neil, too,” Nick says. “Like Louis does, right?”

“Please don’t. That’s worse than butchering my last name. Love Louis, me, but no.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” Nick says. “Are you here with young Harold?”

“Well, I arrived with him at least.”

Nick sighs deeply. “You’d think you’d have learned to say no to this kind of thing after all these years.”

“Be honest,” Niall says. “Can you tell Harry no?”

“Hm,” Nick makes. “I see your problem.”

“What are you doing here, then?”

“Deejayed a little earlier,” Nick says with a shrug, “then got told to stick around for at least an hour so as not to seem _too_ old and boring.”

Niall laughs. “How much have you got left?”

Nick looks at his watch and grimaces exaggeratedly. “43 minutes.”

“Well,” Niall says, “can I buy you a drink to make the waiting more bearable?”

“Yeah, cheers,” Nick says. His smile is just as big as anytime Niall’s seen him for the radio. “Throw some of that popstar money around.”

Niall laughs and orders the drink Nick asks for, something very sweet and colourful that looks funny next to Niall’s beer. They don’t move from the bar, and now that it’s not just Niall by himself, they’re mostly left alone. Niall’s never spent a prolonged amount of time alone with Nick for something not work related, but it turns out they get along just as good by themselves as they do in groups or whenever Niall comes in for an interview. Nick’s as funny and charming as always, but he’s also more subdued than Niall’s ever seen him, and really good at listening.

The hour Nick promised to stay is over quickly, and Niall nudges his elbow lightly with his own where they’re next to each other on the bartop. “You gonna head out now?”

“Had a lot more fun than I expected, didn’t I?” Nick says. “Think I might anyway, I’m an old man with a radio show that starts at 6.30, after all.”

“Could share a car,” Niall suggests without looking at Nick. “Don’t plan on staying here after you’ve left.”

“Didn’t realise you valued my company this much,” Nick says, and Niall can hear his grin in his voice.

“Just don’t like industry parties much,” Niall says, turning back towards Nick with what he hopes is a cheeky wink.

“Can’t fault you for that. Always better to hang out with people you actually like, innit? And sure we can share a car, but don’t you live in Hertfordshire or something?”

“I do, yeah,” Niall shrugs. “Could drop you off on the way, though, if ya want. Primrose Hill can be on my route.”

“Have you been reading up on me, Mr Ho...no, I’ll leave that surname business for now.”

“I listen to Harry, ‘s all,” Niall laughs. “And just remember the “whore” bit. It’s not that hard, swear to god, Grimmy.”

“You’ve told me this a million times,” Nick sighs. “I should practice once a day for a month, maybe I’ll get it right for the next interview so the whole of twitter doesn’t have to be mocking me again.”

“I’ll check in in a month,” Niall says with a laugh. He reaches out and claps Nick’s shoulder. “Let’s get going then, yeah?”

“And let’s not tell Harry, he’ll only make us stay.”

“Agreed,” Niall says wholeheartedly, only feeling a little bad. It’s not like Harry’s gonna miss him.

Nick lives way more central than Niall does and it feels like no time at all until the car Niall called stops in front of Nick’s building. It’s a lovely Victorian house, and Niall knows Nick must at least live on the ground floor, because he’s seen snaps of his dogs in the little garden.

“Right, well,” Nick says. “Thanks for the ride, and the company, I guess.”

“We should go for a pint some time,” Niall blurts out. It feels weird letting Nick go without telling him how much he enjoyed tonight. “Or hang out, like.”

“Could be fun,” Nick says, smiling. “You can tell me more about that Justin Bieber obsession, it’s at least one thing we have in common. You’ve got me number, just give me a shout whenever.”

“I will,” Niall says, and he means it. He leans in to hug Nick goodbye and Nick hugs back, kisses Niall’s cheek before he pulls away.

“See you, Niall,” he waves, scooting out of the car and Niall lifts his hand in a wave.

“Night, Grimmy.”

~

Niall’s not as busy as he’s used to now that he’s decided to stay in London despite the winter weather. He could’ve gone to Australia, but his cousins and most of his friends have moved back so he doesn’t think it’d be worth it, and he’s spent so much time in LA lately he feels like he owes it to London and his friends there to stick around until tour kicks off. Besides, it’s much easier to pop over to Ireland for a visit from here.

He’s vowed not to go back inside a studio until after tour, Louis and Liam are busy with their families, Harry’s doing god knows what and the LIC are gonna get sick of him soon at this point, so Niall doesn’t wait very long until he texts Grimmy.

_U still up for that pint ?_

Nick texts back an hour later with the two little beers clinking and, _sure! Tomorrow? You can come over if you want_

Which is how Niall ends up on Nick’s doorstep at 6pm the next day, because Nick goes to bed at 10pm on a weekday, as he’s made sure to let Niall know. Nick swings the door open with a big grin and pulls Niall in for a hug with a loud, “Hiya, love!”

He’s just pulled the door shut behind Niall when the excited clacking of claws on the floor announces the arrival of Nick’s dogs. Niall hasn’t even taken off his coat or shoes yet but he kneels down to greet them, scratching the bigger white one’s belly as she immediately rolls over and the small black one’s ears with the other hand. It’s no easy feat but he does his best to give both of them equal attention.

“What’re their names?” he asks.

Nick’s looking down at him with a funny expression when Niall looks up at him but it turns almost defensive quickly at the question, as if he expects Niall to laugh. “Pig and Stinky Blob.”

“Oh, I knew her name was Pig!” Niall says, petting her light belly. “Don’t think I’d heard about Stinky. Love how they kinda match, though. Like, in style.”

The smile is back on Nick’s face when he says, “Thanks! Real creative effort right there.”

Nick tells the dogs to lay off Niall after a while so he can at least take off his shoes and jacket, and then leads him into his living room. Niall’s never been to Nick’s flat, but the amount of art on the walls and pillows on the sofa don’t surprise him. It’s cosy and nice, and he tells Nick as much.

“Got loads of artsy friends, don’t I?” Nick says. “Easy to catch a little bit of that. But you don’t have to suck up to me, I’ve already bought you Guiness anyway. Feel like you do the Irish cliche pretty well so I figured it’d fit.”

Niall’s not sucking up to anyone, thank you very much, and he is Irish after all, but he lets it slide in exchange for the sweet gesture. “Mate, you didn’t have to! I could’ve brought something.”

“Eh,” Nick says with a shrug. “You paid for my drink and the car the other night, don’t worry about it.”

They end up ordering Thai food which Niall insists paying for and just chill on Nick’s enormous couch, TV a low hum in the background that neither of them focuses on.

“I would’ve made you dinner myself,” Nick says, “only I couldn’t cook.”

“You don’t cook?” Niall asks, a little incredulous.

“I mean I _can_. I like doing it, actually. But lately I haven’t really had the time or mind for it so my fridge is basically empty except for breakfast stuff,” Nick explains, “and I wouldn’t wanna offer you a kale smoothie, you don’t seem the type for that.”

“Well, you’re right about that,” Niall says. “You should come over to mine next time, I’ll cook you something nice, a good home-cooked dinner.”

So Nick comes over a few days later and Niall’s starting to feel like they could be really good friends. He’s always gotten along well with Grimmy, has always thought he’s hilarious, but he never expected them to have as much in common as they do.

It’s a nice thing to find out though, how easily they click, and Niall finds himself texting Nick more than he texts anyone else after the dinner at his house. Nick was very appreciative about the chicken, and he texts Niall about it at least once a day.

His band’s gonna be back in London soon to start tour rehearsals, but until then Niall catches up on TV, goes golfing with Mark and trains with Jarv to stay in shape, or rather get back into shape after the holidays. He does Modest!Golf things, calls Justin and Tara about a possible second Horan & Rose gala, chats to Ellie about some fashion things and his look for the tour, and starts thinking about the setlist in more detail.

On Friday night, he goes out with Laura and Natalia, lets them drag him to Mahiki with only little resistance. They do have all those nice cocktails, so what if it’s only been like 3 weeks since he last went the day before New Year’s Eve.

He puts on a hat as usual and meets them inside, music already too loud as he kisses their cheeks in hello. It’s bearable at the bar and they sit there for a while, chatting, until Natalia grabs his hand and pulls him onto the dance floor, yelling the lyrics of the song in Niall’s ear. He laughs and follows her after Laura waves them off with a grin, lifting her still half full glass.

When they get back a while later, significantly more sweaty, Laura’s talking to someone tall in very skinny jeans. It takes Niall about two seconds to identify Grimmy by his hair and posture, which worries him for another two seconds before he and Natalia reach the other two.

Feeling a little tipsy, Niall slings an arm around Nick from behind and says into his ear, “Didn’t know you’d be here too.”

Nick jumps at the touch but relaxes when he recognises Niall’s words, turning around with an exaggerated glare. “You scared me to death!”

“Sorry,” Niall says, laughing, and takes a step back to give Nick a little space again. “What ya doing here?”

“Just talking to lovely Laura here, haven’t seen her in ages. You here with her then?”

“Yes, right, Whitmore?” Niall says, grinning at Laura.

“Yes, dragged him out with us, didn’t we?” she says, elbowing Natalia with a wink. “Grimmy here just said he was about to leave, and I’d almost convinced him to join us for a little longer. What do you say?”

Natalia thrusts her hand out for Nick to shake and says, “Hi, I’m Natalia. You don’t know me but I think you should stay since you’re friends with my friends. And I like you on the breakfast show, so.”

Nick laughs. “Thanks, Natalia. Sure I won’t be intruding?”

“No!” Niall pipes up. “You’ll even the field so it’s not just me with these two ladies.”

“You love it, Niall, shut up!” Laura protests, then turns to Nick immediately to say, “You should stay anyway. For me, not for Niall. We need to catch up some!”

So Nick stays, and the four of them talk and and drink another round of cocktails and dance some more, sometimes in pairs and sometimes in a wild huddle that’s basically just them jumping around.

Eventually, the girls call it a night and Niall and Nick decide to leave too, sharing a car again. After kissing Natalia and Laura goodbye, Nick says while wrapping a huge colourful scarf around his neck, “I could really go for some McDonald’s now. Don’t fancy a hangover tomorrow, if I’m honest.”

Niall hums. “Sure, yes. That sounds good, we could pick some up and have it at yours.”

Not too much later, they’re on Nick’s couch again, McDonald’s paper bags spread across the small table in front of them, and Nick sighs contently, putting two plates in front of them.

“This is dead nice,” he says, and Niall nods, reaching for one of the bags and pulling out a box of chicken nuggets.

“The only right thing after a couple of drinks. Good idea, Nicholas.”

“I’m full of those, me,” Nick says, grinning. “So what are you up to over the next few weeks? When’s tour start again?”

“In March,” Niall says. “Reckon I’ll stay in London most of the time, rehearsals are gonna start soon anyway. Until then, probably golf.”

“Oh, right, I forgot you’re a rich old man at heart,” Nick teases, and Niall laughs.

“Haven’t ever heard that one before,” he says sarcastically. “What’ve you got planned, then?”

“Nothing special, really,” Nick says, “just working as usual, and seeing friends all the time. Oh, and going up North for my dad’s birthday in a few weeks,” he adds and immediately pulls a face after.

“What’s wrong with that?” Niall asks. “You not close with your dad?”

“No, I am,” Nick says. “Now, anyway. It’s just that my mum keeps going on about my love life lately. She wants me to finally get a serious boyfriend, think she thinks I’m getting old.”

“Ohh,” Niall says sympathetically. “And there’s no one in sight?”

“Nah,” Nick shakes his head. “Hate dating, to be honest, and I’ve not been introduced to anyone I fancied in a while. Might also be a little awkward to bring someone you’ve been dating for less than a month to a family event, wouldn’t it?”

“Maybe a little,” Niall says. He’s been asked about his love life by family members and even more strangers so much he’s become almost immune to it, but then again he’s not 33 yet like Nick.

“Maybe I should hire someone to pretend,” Nick says, laughing. “Like in the movies, just to get them off my back for a while.”

Niall doesn’t know any movies where someone hires a fake boyfriend, but he makes a split-second decision that’s potentially very stupid but sounds like good craic. “I could do it.”

Nick’s head snaps around to stare at him. “What?”

“You wouldn’t have to pay me, as long as I get a nice dinner out of it I’m fine with helping you out. Plus, it’s the best excuse as to why you’ve not told them about me before: I’m not out, so we’re being very secretive.”

“What?” Nick says again and Niall laughs.

“Mate, it’s not a big deal. We’ll hold hands some, I’ll charm your parents, later on you tell them we couldn’t make the long distance thing work once I start tour. It’s perfect.”

“Are you just offering because you’re drunk?”

“Maybe,” Niall shrugs. “But I’m not drunk enough to make a decision I wouldn’t make sober. Just helping out a friend. Let me, Grimmy. Unless you don’t want to, of course, I’d never force you.”

“No, I...I think that might work,” Nick says, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t like lying to them but I feel like the pressure isn’t making it easier for me to find someone either, you know? It’ll happen when it happens, not because I’m actively trying to find someone to settle down with. Just...are you sure, Niall? It’s not gonna be a huge party and my family will keep quiet I’m sure, but I don’t know if none of the other guests will recognise you. They probably won’t, most of them are old, but what if they do?”

“We just have to hope they won’t, don’t we? It’ll be fine, Grimmy. Promise.”

“But what if someone in Oldham takes a picture and the Sun or whoever runs with it? You know how they blow things up.”

“No one’s gonna expect me to be there,” Niall shrugs. “Besides, I don’t plan on prancing around Oldham, quit worryin’.”

“Are we crazy?”

Niall laughs. “Maybe a little. But it’ll be fun, don’t you think?”

“Well, at the very least I’ll get to hold a fit bloke’s hand for a weekend,” Nick says with a cheeky wink and Niall snorts.

“Flirt with me like that and they’ll believe us, no doubt.”

“I hate flirting in front of my family,” Nick says, “but I guess I’ll push through it for this purpose.”

Niall grins. “Guess you’ll have to.”

~

Niall wakes up to a text from Nick.

_So are we really doing this?_

He doesn’t really have to think about it before he texts back, _Yeah ! I’m up for it ._

Nick’s his friend, and Niall likes helping out his friends. And he’s always thought Nick was fit, he’s always genuinely made him laugh so pretending won’t be too difficult. It’ll be a fun story, if nothing else.

_Ok. When are you next free? To figure some details out_

Over the next two weeks, Niall and Nick meet whenever they both can and text whenever they can’t. It’s not all about their little act, they tend to lose track a little bit, but Nick still spends a lot of time telling Niall about his family and giving him background information, and Niall tells him what he thinks a serious boyfriend would know about him. Together, they decide to say they’ve been fairly serious since the summer, before Niall started touring with his Flicker Sessions.

“I was in London most of July and August,” Niall says, stretched out on Nick’s couch with his feet in Nick’s lap. “We could say we started texting after I came in to promo Slow Hands and then got together over the summer.”

“When were you in for album promo? October?” Nick asks.

“It came out October 20th, so I’d say a few days after that. I was back here for a couple days.”

“If we mention how hard the whole long distance thing is a couple times,” Nick says, “they’ll believe it quicker once I tell them it’s the reason we broke up later.”

“Pet names?” Niall wants to know.

“Definitely using them.”

“Do our friends know?”

“Some,” Nick says. “Liv - my niece who’s basically my little sister, remember - knows I’d never be able to keep something like this from Aimee or Pix, and she texts them all the time, so I should probably let them in on it so they don’t blow our cover.”

“Harry too, then, don’t you think? Since he’s both of our friend.”

“Only they’d never be able to reach him, I barely am myself,” Nick laughs. “But we can tell them he knows. What about PDA?”

“Depends on how you wanna play it in front of your family,” Niall says. “I’m game with whatever, really.”

Nick raises his eyebrows a little but doesn’t question Niall. “I’m not gonna snog you in front of them, that’s certain. But there’s gonna be touching, I’m warning you, or else they wouldn’t believe me in a million years. Maybe some cheek kisses too.”

“Fine by me,” Niall assures him. “They’ll believe us, don’t worry too much. Now, have you already announced you’re bringing a plus one?”

“Shit,” Nick says. “I haven’t, no. I’ll give them a ring tomorrow after the show.”

“You should say it’s me, I think. And, like, let them know we’re still keeping this low-key.”

“‘Course. I’ll make sure to tell them all.”

Niall tells everyone he’ll be out of town, gets all his meetings and work stuff behind him, takes a picture of the golf on his TV that he can post some other time, goes grocery shopping for Willie and let’s two fans he meets there take a picture with him. He chats to them for a little while and tells them he’s looking forward to a chilled weekend, then goes home and tweets that he doesn’t intend to leave the house all weekend.

„What’re you being so secretive for?” Willie asks when he gets home Friday around 2.30pm. “Where are you really going this weekend?”

“I’m helping out a friend,” Niall says, fidgeting a little.

“How?” Willie asks, suspiciously narrowing his eyes. He just knows Niall too well.

“I’m...pretending to be their boyfriend.”

“What? Why? Who?” Willie sounds proper shocked. “Niall, who are you doing this for?”

“Grimmy,” Niall admits.

“Grimmy? Nick Grimshaw? I didn’t know you were that close,” Willie says.

“We’ve been hanging out quite a bit lately. It’s not a big deal, Willie!”

“But what about that crush you had on him? That still a thing?”

Niall groans. That whole thing. Just because he had phases where he listened to the Breakfast Show a little too regularly for someone who hates getting up early, or because he may have talked about Grimmy a bit too much after their Live Lounge. “I tell you too much. I’ll be fine, Willie, don’t worry.”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice how you didn’t answer my question,” Willie says. “Be careful, Nialler. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“It’s just a tiny little crush, I think he’s fit and I like people who make me laugh,” Niall says, crossing his arms defensively. “I’ve got it under control.”

“Okay,” Willie says, reaching out to squeeze Niall’s shoulder. “I trust you.  Just...why is this even happening?”

So Niall explains the whole story, trying to keep it short because he should really get going, Grimmy’s gonna be round soon to pick him up so they can make it to Oldham for dinner.

“...so I said I’d help. And now I have to go because we’re expected for dinner.”

“You do know that’s a little crazy?” Willie says, pulling him into a hug. “Good luck, Nialler, and be careful, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Niall says. “Thanks, Willie.”

He tells Willie too much, Niall thinks as he closes the door behind him. But on the other hand, there wouldn’t be anyone better to tell everything to. He loves his cousin and knows that Willie loves him too, only wants the best for him and calls him out on his bullshit.

He checks his phone again to see that Grimmy has indeed texted him _pick you up at yours at 2.45_.

It’s 2.51 and Nick’s not here yet even though the ride is gonna take them at least three and a half hours and dinner at the Grimshaw’s is at 7. Niall shifts his weight and puts his bag down, checks his phone again. 2.52.

At 2.57, a car pulls up to the gate and Niall doesn’t even glance at the security pad to check who it is before he pulls the gate open.

Nick’s got a nice black Audi, much smaller than Niall’s Range Rover but very easy on the eyes. He gets out of the car as Niall walks through the gate and helps him put his bag and backpack in the boot of the car.

“Sorry I’m late again,” he says, “always happens to me. Just can’t seem to be on time, me.”

“As long as we get there in time for dinner we’re good,” Niall says as they climb in the car. “And they’re probably used to it from you, aren’t they?”

“Oh, definitely,” Nick laughs. “I’ve always been this terrible. Oh, by the way, did I tell you that my mum thought I was talking about one of my friends when I first told her I was bringing someone?”

Niall snorts. “Do you do that often, bring friends to family functions?”

“Well, both my brother and sister got remarried a few years ago, and there’s nothing worse than going to a wedding by yourself. So it’s been known to happen, I guess.”

“To be fair,” Niall says, “I’ve been to plenty of weddings with my cousin. But I went to a wedding without a date just before Christmas and it was alright, actually. Maybe just because there were plenty of people with no dates, and Louis and Eleanor, and I’m so used to thirdwheeling with them that I don’t even mind it anymore.”

“It’s dead nice I won’t be the only single person this time,” Nick says. “Even my 19 year old nephew is bringing his girlfriend, my mum told me, so I’d probably feel pretty lonely without you. Also, did I tell you? My mum insisted we don’t get a hotel and stay at theirs instead. I wanted to book us two rooms but she wouldn’t let me.”

“That’s fine, I don’t mind. It’s just two days, we can pretend for that long. Is it still the house you grew up in?”

“Nah, they sold that one right after I left for uni. Got too big with all of us gone, they said.”

“And you never moved back, even after you’d dropped out of uni?”

“Nah, moved right down to London with my friends Mairead and Tabitha. Never looked back, really,” Nick says, smiling a little. “It all worked out, I reckon.”

The three and a half hour drive passes quickly, and it’s a little bit of a relief that they still haven’t run out of things to talk about. Niall was a little scared this whole pretending business would make things awkward between them, and he’s glad it doesn’t seem to have changed anything so far. He really hopes it’ll be the same on the drive back Sunday afternoon.

When they arrive in Oldham, Niall’s knee starts jiggling and he has to force himself to stop biting his nails. He’s not sure how good of an actor he is and kind of wants Nick’s family to like him even though none of this is real and he’s never gonna see them again after this weekend.

“Stop making me nervous,” Nick says, placing his hand on Niall’s knee and holding it still. “We’re almost there.”

“I know, that’s why I am nervous,” Niall deadpans and Nick rolls his eyes at him.

“You’re the one who kept saying it’ll be alright! And it will be. They’ll love you, you’re charming, handsome and rich, what’s not to love?”

“Wow, thanks Grimmy,” Niall says with a laugh. “I feel very assured now.”

“As you should, as you should,” Nick says, and then he’s pulling into a small residential street and adds, “we’re here.”

The house he’s pulling up in front of looks nice, two stories and a good size for two elderly people who regularly have children and grandchildren coming around, with a neat little front yard that’s probably much more colourful when it’s not January, and a dark green front door complete with a festive wreath still on it.

“Well then,” Nick says, turning off the car and smiling widely at Niall. “This is it, the act begins.”

“Good luck, darling,” Niall grins, reaching out to pat Nick’s cheek jokingly.

“You too, sweetheart,” Nick says, holding Niall’s hand against his cheek a little longer and turning his head fast as lightning to press a kiss to the inside of his wrist.

He’s out the car so quickly he hopefully doesn’t hear Niall’s sharp intake of breath or see the way he flushes bright red. Crap, he really needs to get himself in check if he wants to survive this weekend. It’s just that his skin still tingles where Nick’s lips touched it, and Niall can’t deal with intimacy like that when no one’s watching them. Actually, he doesn’t know if he can when people are, but he definitely hopes so.

He takes a deep breath to steady himself and exits the car, going to the boot to help Nick unload their luggage. The front door opens before they’re finished with that and Nick lifts out the last bag before looking around his car to wave at whoever’s come to welcome them.

“Hiya, mum,” he calls and Niall bends down to grab his backpack and bag as well as one of the presents they’ve brought, before he follows Nick to the house.

The woman smiling at them widely from the patch of light shining outside the front door is small, but not as tiny as Niall’s own mother. She’s blonde and has a friendly face, holding the door open for them.

“Hello, love,” she says, her accent proving that she was born and raised in this area already. She kisses Nick’s cheek as he kisses hers and then turns to Niall. “And you! Welcome home, Niall! I’m so glad to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs Grimshaw,” Niall says politely, putting down his bags and extending his hand.

“Oh, please,” Mrs Grimshaw says, pushing his hand aside to give him a warm hug. “Call me Eileen. Everyone does, but especially the boy my Nicky finally brings home to us.”

By the time she lets him go, Nick’s dad has appeared in the hallway, and Nick takes Niall’s elbow to twist him in the right direction.

“Dad, this is Niall,” he says. “Niall, this is my dad, Peter.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Niall says, and Mr Grimshaw takes the hand he offers.

“It’s Peter,” he says, though, and his smile is nice as well. For some reason, Niall expected someone very stern.

“Come on in,” Eileen says, “take off those coats. Dinner is almost ready, sit down, sit down.”

She ushers them further inside the house as soon as they’ve both taken off their shoes and coats and makes them sit down in the living room even though Niall offers to help her in the kitchen with dinner multiple times.

Nick puts his arm around Niall’s shoulders as soon as they’re sat on the sofa and Niall shifts so his shoulder is pressed into Nick’s side and he’s properly tucked under his arm. He sees Eileen’s face before she ducks into the kitchen and it squeezes his heart with something that feels an awful lot like guilt for making her this happy with a lie.

But then Nick starts stroking his shoulder and everything else flies out of Niall’s head somehow, all that matters is on this couch right now.

Peter starts asking about the route they took to get up here from London until Nick sighs loudly and says, “Dad, how often do I have to tell you I don’t know the road names? Whichever M it was, traffic was about as good as you’d expect for a Friday afternoon.”

Niall laughs, and so does Peter. “Alright, son. I’m just glad you made it up here.”

“Wouldn’t miss my old man’s 77th, would I now?”

“It seems you’re not entirely sick of me, yet,” Peter says with a wink and Niall chuckles, earning himself a smile from Nick’s dad.

“Never, dad,” Nick says. “Now, how about we at least help mum set the table? She might say she doesn’t need our help but she’ll be glad for it anyway.”

Nick and Niall set the table in the dining room while Peter goes to pick out the wine to go with their dinner.

“Going okay so far, isn’t it?” Nick whispers and Niall grins at him. He’s certainly not gonna let Nick know he’s felt out of sorts ever since he put his stupid lips against Niall’s wrist.

So he just says, “I’ve barely had to do anything yet, don’t get ahead of yourself, mate.”

“They like you, that’s a good start,” Nick says. “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Dinner is ready shortly after that, and all four of them sit down to eat, Nick and Niall on one side of the table and Peter and Eileen on the other side.

“So, Niall,” Eileen says, “you work in music, Nick says?”

It’s nicer than Niall expected, to have someone not know anything about him when they meet him. It barely ever happens anymore. “Yes. It’s how we met, and kept meeting.”

“Oh, you’ve been on Nick’s show?” she asks. “I always try to listen to it.”

“Mum, he’s in a band with Harry,” Nick says. “Remember, One Direction?”

“Oh! Oh yes of course, I didn’t realise! But didn’t you take a break with that?”

“Yeah, the band is on a break right now,” Niall says, “but we’re all doing our own thing now. And that’s how I saw Nick again last year, and…”

“...there was a spark,” Nick says with a grin and a wink Niall’s way. “Never really noticed Niall like that in that rowdy boy band, did I? Did though, when it was just him. Immediately.”

“For my part, I’ve always had a little crush on Nicholas here,” Niall says, and Eileen presses a hand to her chest.

“He does that, doesn’t he?” she says. “Feel like everyone he interviews falls a little bit in love with him.”

“Oh, yes, absolutely,” Niall agrees. “Not everyone’s lucky enough to have it be mutual, though.”

They smile at each other for a moment and then Nick says. “Just you. And maybe Diplo, to be honest. And Gemma Arterton, my one and only woman crush.”

“Shush,” Eileen says, “stop talking about them when you’ve got this lovely boy with you now.”

“How old are you, Niall, may I ask?” Peter wants to know.

“I’m 24,” Niall says. “Feel much older, most of the time, though.”

“How come?”

“Oh, it’s just I had to grow up a lot quicker than most other people when the band took off when I was 16. And then there’s me old man joints, as well.”

This shifts the conversation into a completely different direction before they get to the food (delicious), the weather (typical but too cold and grey) and the rest of Nick’s family (all excited to meet Niall).

“I’m excited to meet them, too! Nick’s told me so much about everyone.”

“I think Jane and Liv are a little angry you haven’t told them about Niall, Nick,” Eileen says, looking at her son with furrowed brows.

“I haven’t told anyone,” Nick says defensively, “except Aimee and Pix because they see me every day and would’ve figured it out anyway. We just wanted to keep it quiet for now because Niall’s not out and news travel fast if too many people know.”

“And we respect that,“ Peter says with an emphatic nod Niall’s way, “your mum’s just warning you you might be in a bit of trouble with your sister and niece.“

“Eh,” Nick says, “I’ll live. They’ll just have to accept it.”

Dinner passes quickly over their conversation and afterwards, they help clean the kitchen before Nick’s parents announce they’ll head to bed early to get enough sleep for the long day tomorrow.

“You can obviously stay in the lounge if you want, see what’s on the telly maybe,” Eileen says, “there’s towels in the bathroom and I’ve prepared the guest bedroom for you.”

Niall sees Nick’s eyes snapping over to him for a second before he focuses on his mother again.

“We should probably at least take our stuff upstairs now so we won’t wake you later, shouldn’t we?”

“Well, I’ll sleep through anything,” Peter says, “but your mum might appreciate it.”

So they carry their bags upstairs and say goodnight before Nick pushes open a door in the upper hallway and guides Niall through it. It’s a classic guest bedroom, soft colours, an empty closet, a few pieces of art on the walls - and just one bed. Niall’s sort of expected this though, at least it’s a big bed and it’s not like he’s never shared a bed with friends before, even with friends he might fancy a little bit. He spent five years in a band with four very attractive lads, after all.

“I didn’t really think about the sleeping arrangements, sorry,” Nick says after he’s closed the door. “If you want I could take the couch and sneak back upstairs before anyone wakes up. I’m used to getting up early, after all.”

“Nah, don’t be stupid, Nick,” Niall says. “We can share the bed, I don’t mind.”

“You sure?”

“Mate, I might’ve even missed sharing beds since this hiatus started, to be honest,” Niall grins and it gets Nick to laugh.

“Alright then,” he says. “You wanna watch some telly before we sleep?”

“Might as well,” Niall says. “Is anything on?”

“You’ve not seen Game of Thrones, right? Think that’s on Fridays on, like, sky atlantic or summat.”

“Nah,” Niall says. “But we can find something else.”

They end up watching _Grand Designs_ because it turns out they both have a weakness for Kevin McCloud walking around and watching people build unusual houses.

“I just love all these architecture and design shows,” Nick says. “They’re my guilty pleasure.”

“I even sometimes watch _Location, Location, Location_ ,” Niall admits. “But I much prefer this.”

“Was beginning to think you only watched golf and the football and stuff,” Nick says.

“Not _just_ that. Do watch a lot of it, though.”

“What about movies? Me and some mates just rewatched Titanic a while back and all ended up crying our eyes out.”

“I’ve never seen that, to be honest,” Niall says.

“Mate - what the fuck? That film is almost as old as you are, how can you have missed it?”

“My attention span is barely long enough for a regular film, why would I watch one where you have to switch to the second DVD in between?”

“Because it’s good?” Nick stares at Niall like he thinks he’s completely mad. “It’s this famous for a reason! Besides, I don’t believe your attention span is that short. You can focus on a whole game of golf, if that’s what you call it, I’ve seen you at those championship thingys! And-”

“You’ve seen me play golf?” Niall interrupts, curious. “When? Where?”

Nick actually looks embarrassed, almost like he’s blushing. “Maybe I watched some of those masters, whatever the name is, to see how you were faring. But that’s not the point!”

This time it’s Niall’s turn to be embarrassed. “Oh, so you saw me slip on those leaves.”

Nick lets out a cackle and claps a hand in front of his mouth to muffle it quickly. “Hun, everyone saw that.”

“I know,” Niall says, and he sounds miserable to his own ears. It’s still probably the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to him, and he’s fine with laughing about it, but it still kind of haunts him. It’s one of those things he randomly remembers sometimes that make him wanna erase his own and everyone else’s memory.

“Aw, Niall,” Nick makes, still grinning. “Don’t be embarrassed, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Hard to forget that one,” Niall mutters, and Nick pats his knee consolingly.

“I’ve said way more embarrassing stuff on air, don’t you worry,” he says. “Now what worries me is that I apparently have to give you a whole education in film classics. What films _do_ you watch, then?”

“Comedies, mostly,” Niall says. “Seen some romantic comedies with Harry, obviously, and the other lads made me watch some superhero films and stuff. I quite like documentaries, though, actually. Especially sports documentaries.”

“How entirely unsurprising,” Nick says. “Anyway, as soon as we get home I’m gonna force you to watch some of my favourite films with me. I can’t let this go on.”

Niall laughs. “Okay, sure. You’re gonna keep me busy singlehandedly until tour starts.”

They head upstairs shortly after that and take turns in the bathroom. Niall slips into bed on his regular side and then stills to wonder what side Nick usually takes and if he’s just stolen his.

“Am I ok to sleep on this side?” he asks when Nick comes back to their bedroom dressed in a soft white t-shirt and boxers, very similar to what Niall’s wearing to bed - when he has company, that is. Usually, he sleeps without a shirt.

“‘Course!” Nick says. “I always take the right side anyway.”

He gets under the covers and suddenly the bed doesn’t feel all that big to Niall anymore, even though he’s already right at the edge of it. He hates how endeared he is by Nick’s floppy hair and the glasses he’s wearing, and how badly he wants scoot closer.

Maybe Willie was right and it was dangerous to play couple with someone he’s had a tiny little crush on forever.

~

Niall wakes up the next morning with his nose pressed to Nick’s neck. He breathes in deep for a second and then jerks away, realisation coming through. He hopes Nick wasn’t awake yet.

Nick grunts a little and destroys all of Niall hopes when he reaches out to tug a little on Niall’s arm and says, “Where you going? I like a little morning cuddle.”

Niall’s not fully awake yet, which is the only explanation why he says, “me too, actually,” and scoots back to fit under Nick’s arm this time. Maybe the pillow creases on Nick’s face and his adorably messy - and surprisingly curly - hair play a small part as well, or the fact that he’s warm and smells really good, even the morning after a long day and a long car ride.

Niall drifts off to sleep again with his nose against Nick’s neck again, and Nick’s hand rubbing his shoulder lightly. He’s woken by a knock on the door and Eileen calling, “Can I come in?”

Nick winks at Niall, who just blinks sleepily, and keeps him close before calling back, “yeah, mum, come in.”

Eileen peeks past the door she pushes open and smiles when she sees them. “Good morning, darlings, I hope you slept well. Come down for breakfast soon, yeah? Dad and I want to head to the restaurant early to check if everything’s right.”

Niall stifles a yawn in his hand and drops it heavily onto Nick’s chest, then finally smiles back at Eileen who winks at him, eerily similar to how Nick winks.

“Good morning,” he says, voice coming out a little rough, and tries not to blush when Nick presses a kiss to his hairline.

“We’ll be down in a bit, mum,” Nick says and Eileen nods with a smile, closes the door behind her.

Niall detaches himself from Nick, a little regretfully, and stretches until his joints have cracked everywhere he wants them to.

“Sorry for using you as a pillow,” he tells Nick, and Nick rolls his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it, I told you I like a morning cuddle,” he says. “Nothing wrong with a little cuddle between mates, right?”

“No, ‘course,” Niall says, turning away and sitting at the edge of the bed to hide his traitorous blush. “Shall we get dressed then?”

There’s some rustling and Niall feels the bed dip as Nick gets up. “Breakfast’s calling, so I vote yes.”

Downstairs, they sing happy birthday to Peter before the eggs have even finished boiling, and Nick’s dad gets a little misty eyed even though their voices all still sound sleep rough. He unwraps the presents he’s getting meticulously and very slowly, until Nick says, “Dad, just rip it! We won’t reuse the wrapping paper and I’m starving.”

Breakfast with the Grimshaws is nice, and Niall’s glad to find Nick’s parents seem to genuinely like him. He likes them too, which makes this whole ordeal both easier and harder. He doesn’t have to act - easier. He’s never gonna see them again and is also currently playing an essential part in telling them a huge lie - harder.

Nick and he offer to do the cleaning so his parents can relax a little and get ready before they head down to the restaurant.

“Really, I do like cleaning,” Niall promises a worried Eileen. “Bit of a neat freak, me. Besides, you’ve already done so much, let me help a little.”

“You’ve sure charmed your way right into their hearts,” Nick says after his parents have left the kitchen.

“Well, I don’t mind the cleaning, honestly. I do it at home all the time, it helps calm me down.”

“Really?” Nick asks incredulously. “You don’t have a cleaner or something? I assumed you’d had someone over to clean, it was so tidy when I came to yours.”

“Nah, that’s all me, at least when I’m actually home,” Niall says. “Way too impatient to wait for someone to clean up after me.”

“You keep surprising me, Niall Horan.”

“That was close,” Niall cheers, pausing his collection of dirty dishes to clap once. “Did you really practice saying my name?”

“Well,” Nick says, “I thought I had to get a hang of it, now. You’ve told me plenty of times, after all.”

“I literally gave you a step by step tutorial last time I was on the breakfast show,” Niall laughs, “and you-“

“Forgot again, I know,” Nick sighs. “It’s embarrassing.”

“But you were willing to learn,” Niall says, “and I’ve honestly heard worse. Promise.”

“Okay, thanks for trying to make me feel better, at least,” Nick says with a grin Niall’s way. “Just pop all of that in the dishwasher, yeah? I don’t think we have to actually do any of these dishes.”

He turns to wipe down the table and Niall starts humming along to the radio that’s been playing on low volume in the background while he tries to fit everything in the dishwasher. Nick’s at the fridge, putting the milk or something back inside, and suddenly he turns the radio up.

“I don’t want to force your ears to hear me sing,” he calls, and wiggles his shoulders a little, “so I’m turning up the volume to cover up my own voice.”

Niall laughs and puts the last plate in the dishwasher, pushes it shut and wiggles his shoulders back at Nick, then sidesteps his way over to him.

“Is there gonna be dancing at the party today?” he asks and Nick shrugs, looking curious.

“Not sure, to be honest. Why?”

Niall extends a hand and bows a little, like in those period films Harry watches sometimes. “Shall we dance, good sir?”

Nick laughs and grabs his hand, shimmying to the beat of the music. He takes control immediately and suddenly he’s twirling Niall, who goes and twirls until he’s so dizzy he bumps into Nick’s chest and they’re both laughing as Nick’s steadying him, and then there’s more laughter mixed in with theirs as the song fades out.

Nick lets him go to turn down the volume again and Niall grips the edge of the counter just in case he’s not steady yet before he turns towards Nick’s parents standing in the doorway, still smiling at them.

“Looks like you two are having a lovely morning,” Eileen says.

“Just don’t forget the time,” Peter adds, “we’re leaving now, and you should be there by 11, too.”

“We’ll be there soon,” Nick says, “don’t worry.”

Nick and Niall finish cleaning the kitchen while Nick’s parents putter around in the hallway, and once the front door clicks shut after them, Nick turn to Niall to say, “No idea why they’re leaving this early. The poor restaurant staff probably hasn’t finished setting up yet and now they’re gonna go there and bother them. It’s almost two hours until the guests are supposed to arrive!”

“They just want to make sure everything’s perfect,” Niall says. “It’s cute.”

“You’re cute,” Nick says, and then stammers, “uh...anyway, um. We should start getting ready too? I wanna be there before the other guests arrive. Like dad said, I guess. 11, right? Yeah, he said we should be there by 11 so we’re gonna do that, okay? With the drive and all I think we should get ready.”

“Nick,” Niall laughs, “calm down, Christ. Don’t freak out because you called me cute, or whatever this is. I’m not freaking out either, am I?”

“No one’s freaking out,” Nick says defensively, but he still look terribly embarrassed. It’s really cute, even when he refuses to look at Niall. “Anyway, let’s get ready, yeah?”

According to Nick, there is no dress code, so Niall decides to wear his trusty jeans and a shirt with it. He’s brought a couple of alternatives that he spreads out on the bed while Nick’s in the bathroom getting dressed and doing his hair. He’s got a bunch of nice short sleeved ones with patterns on them, but he’d have to decide on something to wear over them, so a long sleeved one is probably the way to go today. Eventually he picks a light blue one with narrow even lighter stripes and a band collar that got him loads of compliments once when he wore it to British Summer Time Festival or something. The point is to look like Nick’s nice boyfriend but not stand out too much, so he has to somehow look good enough to fit into what Nick says is his type (“good looking people”) but also keep it simple. This shirt is probably his best bet.

When Nick comes back from the bathroom, he’s wearing what must be his tightest pair of jeans and a blue suit jacket over a blue and white striped t-shirt. He looks great, and it kind of hits Niall how attractive he is, even though he’d already thought so when he got used to seeing Nick in oversized stripy jumpers or a wildly patterned shirt that has at least three buttons unbuttoned. But this is definitely a look he really likes, too.

“Like what you see?” Nick asks teasingly, and Niall grins. Apparently Nick’s caught himself again.

“Matter of fact, I do,” he says. “Think we match nicely, even though your blue is darker than mine.”

“Eh, my jeans are lighter. Think we match, too.”

It’s only to keep up the pretence, Niall reminds himself, and Nick’s probably only flirting with him to get in the mood before they’re around all the nosy people in his family. Not that Niall wants Nick to flirt with him outside of this. He might have a little crush, okay, that one’s hard to explain away. But he’s fine with it being one of those distant ones, one you never really consider doing anything about. Which he doesn’t. So it’s fine.

“Niall?” Nick asks, and Niall realises he’s just been standing there for a bit, staring off into nothing.

“Uh, yeah, sorry. What?”

“I was wondering if you were ready to go?” Nick repeats, and Niall nods, straightens out his shirt.

“Yes, yeah, ‘m ready. Let’s go.”

The restaurant is in the centre of Oldham and Niall feels a little vulnerable walking from the car park Nick’s left his Audi in to the restaurant, but no one even looks at them twice. It’s not unusual, Niall’s always been good at keeping a low profile, especially if he’s somewhere people wouldn’t expect to meet him. Still, he lets out a sigh of relief when he steps through the door to the restaurant Nick’s holding open for him.

Naturally, there’s no one there yet except for Eileen and Peter, who seem very engaged in their conversation with a lady wearing a pressed white shirt with the logo of the restaurant embroidered on her chest.

The room they’re in is decorated nicely for a 77th birthday, two long tables, each seating about ten or fifteen people, are arranged in a big L leaving plenty of space between them and the bar on one side of the room. There’s flower arrangements and some candles on the tables, napkins folded artfully and matching the other decorations perfectly.

“This is nice,” Niall tells Nick.

“Yeah,” Nick says. “Think they picked a good venue for this. Now, let’s be the best couple we can be, yeah?”

He throws an arm around Niall and Niall grins, slips his own arm around Nick’s waist. “Game on.”

“Mum, dad?” Nick asks, and his parents turn around to greet them.

“You made it in time,” Eileen cheers and Nick rolls his eyes goodnaturedly.

“Yeah, was really difficult with how you told us to be here an hour early.”

Eileen tuts and Niall grins, taking in the lady from the restaurant for the first time since they announced themselves. Her eyes are wide and she looks between him and Nick at a worrying pace.

Niall clears his throat and squeezes Nick’s side lightly, tilting his chin towards her.

“Oh, yes,” Peter says instead, reaching out to squeeze Niall’s elbow once before he turns to look at the lady with exactly the stern face Niall had originally pictured him with always. “Can we trust you and your staff to keep this under wraps or will we have to make you sign an NDA?”

“Oh,” she says, visibly pulling herself together and smiling a little nervously. “Oh, no. Of course we’ll treat this with the utmost privacy. I’ll instruct the staff and keep it to a minimum size.”

“Thank you,” Peter says, sounding dignified and Niall gives her a smile as well.

Her name is embroidered on her blouse too, he notices. Rita, it says. “Thanks, Rita,” he says. “That’s very appreciated.”

She blushes a little, and Niall wonders briefly who she recognised first. She looks a little older than your typical One Direction fan, but it’s not like all their fans are under 25.

“Thank you, Peter,” he says once Rita has walked off.

“I think it’s time you start calling me Pete, yeah? It’s what my friends call me,” Nick’s dad says and Niall gives him a big, genuine smile.

“Alright, then,” Niall smiles before he looks at Nick, serious again. “I didn’t think of the staff when we talked about keeping this in a small circle.”

“Me neither,” Nick says. “Think you handled that well, though, dad.”

“Yeah, I don’t think they’ll talk, hopefully,” Niall mumbles. He looks up at Nick’s parents. “Not that I don’t want to come out eventually, I do. I just want to do it on my own terms.”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Eileen says. “We get that, and we want you to feel safe. All the guests know not to share any pictures with you in them and everything, we made sure.”

“Thank you so much. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

“No, no, don’t worry, son,” Pete says, and Eileen cups Niall’s cheek for a moment. “We’re so glad you’re here.”

Every time they’re this nice, Niall feels even worse for lying to them about the nature of his and Nick’s relationship. He’s saved from replying when there’s a commotion at the door and everyone turns to look for who’s causing it.

“Oh, of course,” Nick says loudly. “Who else could make this much noise?”

The two women by the door both turn around with huge smiles on their faces when they hear his voice, dropping the many bags they were trying to wrangle through the door and heading towards the group on the other side of the room.

“Nicholas!” the older woman calls, and Niall only has to look at her once to know that this must be Nick’s older sister Jane, they look so alike. Which means the younger one must be Nick’s niece Olivia, who’s only a year or two younger than Niall.

There’s big hellos all around and then Nick has a hand on the small of Niall’s back, introducing him. “Niall, these are Jane and Liv, as you’ve probably figured, and you two, meet my boyfriend.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Jane says, kissing him on both cheeks and barely giving him time to reply.

“Not that it’s been long since we found out about you,” Liv says, glaring at Nick before she greets Niall too. “It’s lovely to meet you, though.”

“I’m not sorry for wanting some privacy with my boyfriend when he’s actually around for a change,” Nick defends himself. “He’s been traveling the world for most of the time we’ve been dating.”

“My job is making it very hard to, like, meet the family and stuff in a regular time frame,” Niall says to help Nick. “We’ve wanted to do this for much longer.”

“Hm,” Jane makes. “Well, you’ve made it now, which is wonderful.”

The whole thing starts from scratch when Jane’s husband and Liv’s boyfriend arrive, carrying a box each and trying to step around the boxes the women had dropped in the doorway, and then again when the oldest Grimshaw sibling Andy and his wife and baby daughter show up.  
“Hiya, little Rose,” Nick coos in a voice not dissimilar to the one he uses when talking to his dogs, and Niall bites his lip, trying not to look too endeared.  
Rose is a year old, with chubby red cheeks and a big toothless smile, and she’s adorable. Nick takes her from his sister-in-law within seconds, and his whole body language changes somehow, adjusting to the little human in his arms. He’s really good with kids, Niall can tell immediately, looks like a real natural holding his baby niece and making her laugh with his funny faces and noises. She’s babbling back at him and Nick seems to genuinely listen, even though nothing she says makes any sense yet.

Liv elbows Niall and grins at him knowingly, wiggling her eyebrows. He absolutely knows what she’s doing, and they’re not even really dating, but Niall blushes fiercely nonetheless.

“Hope you like kids,” she says, laughing at him a little. “Nick looooves them.”

“I’m...we haven’t...we’re not at that point yet,” Niall stammers, still embarrassed. “But I do like kids.”

Almost as if to prove it to Liv, he crosses the distance between him and Nick, waving at little Rose dopily. She giggles and screeches delightedly when Niall reaches out to tickle her tummy. She’s not at the stage yet where she can tell apart strangers and friends, apparently, and she doesn’t seem to be shy.

“Liv’s already campaigning for us to have babies,” Niall tells Nick quietly, and Nick lets out a startled laugh before he rolls his eyes.

“Oh, sure,” he says, “only in my family. Don’t let it bother you, think they’re just enthusiastic.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” Niall assures him. “Just thought I’d let you know that’s a thing that’s happening.”

Suddenly Andy’s there, demanding a hug from his little brother, and then Nick’s handing off the baby and Niall’s holding Rose. It’s a bit of a surprise and it’s been a while since he’s held someone younger than Theo, who he saw over Christmas, but apparently muscle memory is a thing that exists with toddlers as well and it doesn’t feel weird at all. Rose seems happy enough so Niall smiles at her and taps her little nose gently with his pointer finger, prompting her to squeal again.

“Got stuck with me, huh, little Rose?” he says. “I’m Niall, I’m friends with your uncle. Your uncle Nick, yes, he’s the tall one with all the hair-“

“Hey!” Nick interrupts them, obviously trying to glare at Niall, but it’s obvious he’s fighting a smile. “Stop slagging off my hair!”

Niall laughs. “You know I love it, Nicholas.”

Something funny happens to Nick’s face and it goes all soft, and then he’s pressing a kiss to Niall’s hairline. Niall closes his eyes and sways into it almost subconsciously, until Nick’s hand on his waist steadies him and he opens his eyes, a little embarrassed. But everyone around them is still deep in conversation, the only one who’s paying them any attention is Andy, who’s smiling at them warmly.

“Hi,” he says to Niall, “I’m Andy. It’s nice to finally meet the man who seems to have tied down my little brother.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Andy,” Niall says. “I’ve heard so much about you. Also, I seem to have accidentally stolen your daughter.”

Andy laughs. “Oh, you seem competent enough with her, if you want you can hold her for a little while longer, right, Rosie? You don’t mind staying with your new uncle, do you?”

Rose fists a portion of Niall’s shirt in reply and makes a cute little cooing sound, which they all take as her okay.

“Where _did_ you learn how to deal with babies?” Nick wants to know once Andy’s turned away. “The kindergarten you brought with you on tour?”

“Yeah, actually, mostly,” Niall says with a grin. “Lux and Brooklyn grew up around us, so we spent a lot of time with them. And then there’s my nephew, Theo, and all my friends’ kids...I have lots of older friends, so there’s always someone with a baby somewhere, Ben, Marv and Roch, and well...Louis and Liam, too now.”

“I love kids,” Nick says almost wistfully. “So many of my friends are getting married and starting families these days, I have three godchildren now and there’s probably more to come. Not to toot my own horn,” he lowers his voice to a whisper as if he’s telling a secret, “but I’m a dead good godfather.”

“Sure you’re gonna be a good dad too, one day,” Niall says, and wants to swallow his tongue right afterwards. Way to put his foot in. “I-“

They’re interrupted by Eileen, who wants to get to hold her granddaughter as well, and then more guests arrive causing a general flurry until they’re all toasting to Pete Grimshaw a while later, glasses of champagne in everyone’s hand. Niall’s thankful for the distraction and keeps his distance from Nick for a little while, charming the entire extended Grimshaw family by himself.

When Nick finds him again, he’s talking to a couple who apparently lived next door to the Grimshaws for thirty years and is full of stories about a young Nick.

“Lucy, Brian, what are you telling him about me?” Nick asks, slipping an arm around Niall’s middle casually.

“Only the truth, Nicky,” Lucy giggles, and Nick kisses her cheek and shakes Brian’s hand.

“It’s so lovely to see you again,” Nick says, “but I’m afraid I’m gonna have to steal this one away from you.”

“You’ve found yourself a nice lad there,” Lucy says, and Nick smiles.

“I know, I’m quite lucky.”

He leads Niall away and towards the bar, it seems.

“Where are you taking me?” Niall wants to know.

“Oh, Jane asked for our help,” Nick says. “You know all that stuff they were carrying? Apparently they want to put up a photo wall where you can take pictures with props and stuff, you know those paper hats on sticks and fake beards and stuff?”

“Oh, yeah,” Niall says. “That’s a great idea, I think it’ll be a hit with the older generation.”

“That’s what I said, too,” Liv pipes up. Apparently they’ve reached their destination, and Nick lets go of Niall to help his sister put up the photo background she’s struggling with.

“That looks like a job for the tall ones,” Niall says, because Jane is definitely taller than him, if not quite as tall as her brothers.

Liv laughs. “Oh, yes. Isn’t it just so useful always having someone tall around?”

“Definitely,” Niall says. “I haven’t had to stand on a chair to reach something in ages.”

“You wound me,” Nick says dramatically, returning to Niall’s side. “Is that all I am to you? A replacement for your ladder?”

“I’m surprised it took you so long to get that, love,” Niall teases, then swings up onto his tiptoes to kiss Nick’s cheek.

Nick smiles at him and pulls him closer until they’re pressed together. “You’re an idiot.”

“You love it,” Niall says, tilting his head up to look at Nick.

“Hmm,” Nick hums. “I do that.”

He’s looking back at Niall and they’re still pressed close, and Niall feels a tingle up his spine. Nick’s really quite solid against him, and so attractive up close he just can’t stop looking.

It’d be so easy to stretch just a little bit and kiss Nick, _too_ easy even, in a lot of ways, and Niall’s almost glad when Liv clears her throat, startling them both.

“You’re cute, I have to say,” she grins, “but we did call you here to help us set this up, you know.”

“Oh, sorry, yeah,” Niall says, and he’s pretty sure he’s blushing again. He wonders what Nick thinks, if he’s on to him already or if he thinks Niall is just a really good actor. He hopes it’s the latter because the former would make this whole arrangement really awkward for Nick. If it’s hard for Niall, that’s okay, he went into this with open eyes, after all. Nick doesn’t deserve that, though. Niall’s gonna do his damnedest to make Nick believe he’s only playing along.

“What can we do?” Nick asks, and his sister shoves a box at him.

“Unpack this,” she instructs, “and put the accessories on a table that Niall here is gonna pull over for us, alright, love?” Niall nods startled, looking over at the table she’s pointing at. It seems manageable. “Leave the scarves in the box and use another box for the hats, we don’t want a big mess here.”

They do what the Grimshaw women direct them to do, setting up the photo wall and a projector for a video they’ planning to show later on, until everyone starts taking their seats at the big table. Niall’s supposed to sit in between Nick and Liv, opposite Andy, his wife Charlotte and Andy’s son, Nick’s nephew Shae. It’s a loud lunch, considering the majority of the Grimshaws isn’t exactly the quiet sort, and Niall has the time of his life. He almost chokes on his food or the beer he’s having with it several times, but it’s absolutely worth it with how much fun they’re having. Liv, Nick and Jane, who’s sat on Nick’s other side, seem to be having a sort of competition on who can make the rest of them laugh more, and they’re really giving it their all.

Niall sticks to his beer, Nick mostly to water because he’s driving later, but the others keep the wine coming and it’s making things even funnier and louder by the time they’ve finished their desserts.

Niall’s got a little buzz going too, and Nick’s hand resting on the back of his neck is electrifying, almost.

“We should take some pictures, break in the photo wall,” Liv suggests eventually, “so it doesn’t go unused.”

“It does seem like people are too shy to use it,” Nick agrees. “Be a shame to have set that up for nothing.”

“You should take a picture of the three Grimshaw siblings,” Liv says, lifting her glass of wine in a toast like motion. “And we have to get a family picture later, Eileen and Pete with fake beards will be a right laugh!”

“Well come on then,” Jane says, pushing back her chair, “let’s do it!”

Her brothers follow her obediently and Liv tugs on Niall’s arm as she gets up too. “Come on, we’re in charge of taking the picture.”

Andy, Nick and Jane take a series of hilarious pictures, donning stupid hats and holding photo booth props in front of their faces, and Niall has to take the camera from Liv eventually because she’s laughing too much to take decent pictures. Afterwards, Jane and Liv take some together, then Nick and Liv, and while they’re figuring out what to wear, Jane nudges Niall and winks at him.

“You and Nick should take some next,” she says.

“Oh,” Niall says, looking at Nick’s glowing face while he’s putting a big pink hat on his niece, “I don’t know, Jane…”

“I won’t put them in the folder I’ll share with all the guests, promise,” she says. “You’ll regret it if you don’t take any, and this is too much fun to pass up on!”

She snaps a few pictures of Nick and Liv and lets Niall think about it for a moment. He thinks it’d be nice, and it does look like a lot of fun, he doesn’t even know why he’s hesitating. If Jane says she’ll keep them private, he believes her.

“Nick,” Jane calls when she’s taken enough pictures and Nick and Liv have exhausted their poses. “You and Niall are next! I’ve just convinced him, you have to.”

“Yeah, sure,” Nick says immediately, grinning at Niall and putting the hat he’d just dropped back on. “Come here, babe.”

Niall laughs a little and joins him at the table, wrapping a huge pink feather boa around his neck and rifling through the assortment of hats.

“You ok, hun?” Nick asks, and Niall knows that’s sort of a tagline at the breakfast show, but it still feels genuine.

“Yeah,” he says, smiling. “Just trying to find a hat that doesn’t look too much like the ones I wear normally.”

Nick laughs. “Well, there you go again with the old man habits.”

Niall settles on a pilot hat and takes in Nick with his superman cape and huge sun hat, and laughs. “You look the sexiest you’ve ever been.”

Nick hums, adjusting Niall’s hat. “I do like a man in uniform,” he says, “and that hat is close enough for me.”

“Stop flirting,” Liv calls, “and pose for those photos.”

It’s a little awkward first, trying to figure out what to do for the pictures, especially with how Niall isn’t sure how casually he can touch Nick, but they manage it eventually, posing with Nick standing behind Niall, giving Niall a piggyback ride and then the other way round which probably turns out the funniest because Nick’s way too tall for it and they can’t stop laughing.

“Now kiss!” Liv shouts eventually, and Nick and Niall both freeze.

“Yes,” Jane agrees with her daughter though, “take one of those typical couple shots! That’ll be funny in your costumes!”

Liv’s gone over to chanting “kiss, kiss, kiss!” at them, and she’s somehow got a full glass of wine again. Niall bursts out laughing looking at her and then says to Nick, “Let’s just do it.”

“What?” Nick asks incredulously, then lowers his voice even more. “I promised you no snogging.”

“It’s just a little kiss,” he says, “if anything it’ll make us even more believable.”

“What are you waiting for?” Jane asks, and she’s now got a glass again too. “I’m growing roots over here!”

She and Liv cackle and clink glasses and Niall tells them, “he’s just shy in front of you guys! We’re doing it, right, Nick?”

“If you’re sure it’s okay,” Nick whispers, and Niall sighs deeply, grabs Nick’s face between his hands and pulls him into position.

“Yes, I told you,” he says, and closes the distance between them.

He knows immediately why this was a terrible idea. Nick’s lips soften under his, kissing him back, and his arms go around Niall’s back, pulling him closer.

Niall follows blindly, lifting up on his tiptoes and sliding one hand from Nick’s jaw to the back of his head, knocking his hat askew.

This was a terrible idea because Niall’s not gonna be able to stop thinking about this, never in his life, he’s sure of it. It was a terrible idea because he’s gonna want to do it again. Kissing Nick is everything Niall would’ve imagined if he’d ever allowed himself to imagine.

They pull apart, and Nick blinks at him for a few seconds before taking a step back. Niall’s dropped the impressive paper moustache he’d been holding in front of his face for the first few pictures at some point, even though he can’t remember when it happened. He swallows, then turns to Liv and Jane with a grin. “Got any good ones?”

“Plenty,” Liv grins. “That was brilliant. Dead romantic, to be honest.”

They clear the way for some of Nick’s cousins who want to take pictures too, and Niall gets swept up in a conversation with Charlotte while Nick is talking to someone else, and it gives Niall a moment to catch his breath, both literally and metaphorically. He excuses himself to the bathroom and stands there for a while, staring at himself in the mirror. He really could’ve figured this wasn’t gonna be a good idea, honestly. With how Nick’s fingers on the back of his neck make him feel, why would he go around kissing him? The truth is that maybe he’s a little drunk and this whole situation has given him, well, an excuse to give in to that longing he’s been feeling for a while, if he’s honest with himself. In conclusion, he’s fucked.

Maybe he’s in over his head, maybe he should’ve thought this through. The thing is that he needs to get a grip, and quickly, because he can’t let this go on until he starts thinking about an actual relationship with Nick. That’s not in the cards, for several reasons.

He has to go back eventually though, and Niall’s made it this far without embarrassing himself and/or telling Nick about the crush he has on him, so he takes a deep breath and tells himself to just push through it.

He takes another deep breath and pushes off the sink, checking his reflection once more to make sure he doesn’t look as rattled as he feels. His hair‘s a little messier than it was when they left the house this morning, but apart from that he doesn’t really look like his world’s just shifted on its axis.

He gets back just in time for the video presentation they set up the projector for earlier and quietly slips onto his seat next to Nick’s. Nick raises an eyebrow at him and whispers, “You alright?”

“Yeah, fine,” Niall says, trying to give him a reassuring smile.

The video turns out to be a montage of pictures illustrating Pete’s life, and they’re hilarious (fashion really was something else in the 70s and 80s) and very interesting especially to someone who doesn’t know a lot about him yet. Niall enjoys it more than he thought he would, and he tells Andy, who’s been collecting pictures for months, so.

“Thanks, Niall,” Andy says sincerely. “Now you’ve got the scoop on our dad, we should make one of those for each of us so you’re all up to date with everything. Maybe I’ll get one done for mum’s birthday in July, if you’re coming to that?”

“Oh,” Niall says, touched, “don’t do it for me. I’ll be touring America in July, dunno if I’d be able to make it.”

“All of July?” Andy asks. “Wow, that’s quite a while.”

“Actually, tour starts in March and ends in September,” Niall admits. “Going ‘round the whole world takes a while.”

“How are you gonna make time to see Nick in between all of that?” Charlotte wants to know and Niall shrugs a little uncomfortably.

“I’ll be in Europe until June,” he says, “won’t be too far, then. June ‘til September is gonna be hard, but maybe Nick can fly out at some point or I’ll have a week off or summat.”

“We did it this autumn, too,” Nick says. “The long distance isn’t fun but he’s popped in back home often enough to keep me interested.”

Niall snorts and whacks his shoulder. “What he means to say is, it’s hard but doable. I do miss a lot of stuff, birthdays, anniversaries. It’s not exactly fun to date someone with a job like mine.”

“Oh, don’t put yourself down,” Nick says, leaning over to kiss Niall’s temple. “I have plenty of fun with you.”

“Maybe it’s good for Nick to date someone who’s away that much,” Olivia says, “what with his commitment issues.”

“I do not-,” Nick starts protesting. “Someone get Liv away from that wine. I don’t have commitment issues, shut up.”

“You’re 33 and until now you’ve never had a long term relationship. Sounds like commitment issues to me.”

“I told you it’s just never fit! And stop psychoanalysing me right now. It wasn’t always me who ended my relationships.”

“This is a little insensitive in front of his boyfriend, Livvie,” Jane says quietly, but Niall still hears her. He wonders how much more awkward this would feel if he was really Nick’s boyfriend.

“It’s okay,” he says, smiles at Liv and pats Nick’s cheek placatingly. “Got him to commit now, haven’t I?”

There’s cake shortly after, and the party eventually draws to a close between 4 and 5pm. Almost everyone except for the immediate family has left when Olivia pulls Niall aside.

“Listen, I’m sorry,” she tells him. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s really okay, Liv,” Niall says. “But maybe you should tell Nick this, think he took it harder than I did, to be honest.”

“I wasn’t lying though, he’s really always run away from real commitment until...you, and I’m doing it again, oh my god, sorry. Maybe I did have too much wine.”

“Well, I haven’t really been one for long term commitment either,” Niall says, “but if it works, it works, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course,” she says, running a hand through her long blond hair, “I didn’t want to imply anything else, honestly. Wow, I genuinely put my foot in, didn’t I?”

Niall laughs and squeezes her shoulder once. “It’s really alright, Liv, stop worrying.”

The next one to corner him is Nick, who steps so close to Niall he can feel Nick’s warmth everywhere and says in his ear, “careful, don’t blow our cover by flirting with my niece too much.”

Niall takes a step back, he’s so surprised. “What? I wasn’t flirting with her.”

“No?” Nick raises an eyebrow. “What was all the laughing and touching about, then?”

“We had a chat,” Niall says, feeling defensive. “She apologised to me and I said it was alright and she should maybe talk to you because you took it harder. Which I apparently still underestimated, if that’s why you’re acting like a jealous boyfriend now.”

“I’m not acting like a jealous boyfriend, you can flirt with whoever you want!”

“That’s not what I was saying,” Niall says, frustrated. “And now stop whatever it is you’re doing before your family starts worrying even more.”

“Fine,” Nick huffs, and his brows are still drawn when he stalks off. Niall sighs and rubs a hand along his forehead tiredly. He has absolutely no idea what brought on Nick’s tantrum, or whatever it is. And yeah, maybe them fighting will make it easier for Nick’s family to believe they broke up when it gets to that in a couple of weeks, but he’s here to make them happy and not have them worry about their relationship already.

“Everything okay?” It’s Jane this time. “There’s no trouble in paradise, is there? Did we cause this?”

“Hey, no, don’t worry,” Niall says. “Think Nick’s just stressing a little bit, has been for ages. He was really nervous about today and you know he can get a little testy.”

Jane sighs deeply. “That I do. I’m glad it’s nothing, then. Anyway, we’re all heading home for today but we’ll be over for lunch tomorrow before you leave, yeah?”

“Oh, sure,” Niall says, giving her a smile. “It’ll be nice to see you all again in a calmer situation.”

“Nicer for Nick too, clearly,” Jane jokes and surprises him when she leans in to kiss Niall’s cheek. “See you tomorrow, Niall. It was nice meeting you.”

“You too,” Niall says. “I had a great time today.”

The car ride back to the Grimshaw’s is tense at first and Niall keeps sneaking looks at Nick who keeps his eyes straight on the road.

“Sorry,” Nick says eventually, sounding reluctant. By now, Niall’s figured out Nick really doesn’t like apologising or admitting he was wrong, so the little concession makes him smile already. He keeps his face turned to the window, though, waiting for Nick to continue. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“It’s okay, Nick,” Niall says, sighing. “I know you’re under a lot of pressure this weekend. I mean, I was supposed to take some of that pressure off, but maybe I’m not actually the best person to do this with. Feel like me being who I am just adds more pressure on everyone.”

“Shut up,” Nick snaps, and his tone does make Niall shut up immediately. He sounds very serious. “”If anyone’s putting pressure on anyone, it’s me. You’re helping me out, it’s not your fault I’m pissy or whatever. And sorry for snapping again.”

“Alright,” Niall says, a hint of laughter in his voice. “I’m not mad at you and I don’t feel pressured. So are we good, then? Ready to pretend we’re boyfriends for 24 more hours?”

“Yeah,” Nick nods. “All good.”

It’s just in time as well, because Nick pulls into his parents’ driveway a minute later.

Eileen looks at them searchingly when she opens the door and takes one of the boxes Niall is carrying from him. “Everything alright with you boys?”

Nick rolls his eyes. “Yes, mum. This whole family is way too invested in my love life.”

She pats his cheek consolingly and ushers them inside.

Niall helps cleaning up the mess they’ve brought with them from the party as well as he can, carrying boxes and presents and putting them wherever he’s directed to. After, he helps Eileen prepare a light dinner while they chat about nothing and everything - she wants to know about Niall’s family and he asks her lots of questions about baby Nick, partly because he thinks it’s what a boyfriend would want to know, and partly because he really wants to know what Nick was like before he became a chatty radio host. Very naughty, apparently, and just as loud.

“Muuum,” Nick complains when he walks into the kitchen halfway through another childhood story, “You can’t just tell him everything just because he looks at you with those eyes!”

“Hard to resist, hm, love?” she laughs. “Go get your father, dinner is ready.”

After dinner, they sit down in the lounge with nice glasses of red wine and play a few rounds of cards, before Pete and Eileen head up to bed. Nick and Niall stay where they are, next to each other on the Grimshaw’s comfortable couch.

“So,” Nick says, and Niall smiles, leans back and puts his feet in Nick’s lap. So they kissed today, doesn’t mean the way they are around each other has to change. And what they are is comfortable, all that time spent together over the past few weeks has definitely accomplished that.

“So,” Niall echoes once he’s settled. “Think today went alright, didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Nick agrees, then grins a little self-deprecatingly. “Except for my little fit in between. But you did a wonderful job, love, really. They all loved you and no one had any doubts about our relationship, I’m sure.”

“It was teamwork,” Niall shrugs. “This is a thing that really only works when both people do their job right, don’t even try to deny it.”

“Wasn’t going to,” Nick says, raising his hands defensively. “We make a good team.”

They stay on the couch a little longer, mostly quiet, until Nick runs a hand through his hair, ruffling it, and shifts out from under Niall’s legs.

“Gonna take a shower then head to bed,” he explains. “You can come upstairs whenever you want to.”

Niall nods wordlessly, watches as Nick turns around and leaves the living room before he slumps back down into the couch and presses the heels of his hands to his eyes.

“Christ,” he mumbles, this is dangerous territory. He kissed Nick today, he got too comfortable with him on this couch, and now he’s going to have to share a bed with him for another night. When he still can’t quite forget the taste of Nick’s mouth, the feeling of Nick’s lips on his.

Groaning quietly, Niall drags himself upstairs to their room. Nick’s still in the bathroom apparently, so Niall takes off his shirt and jeans, folding them carefully. He’s gonna take a shower in the morning, he decides. The thought of getting into the shower right after Nick was in there makes him feel...a little off.

The only problem with his plan is that Niall didn’t consider his perfect view of the bathroom door when Nick steps out, in just his pants, t-shirt caught on his head so it only reaches the middle of his chest. Nick tugs on it and Niall stares at the strip of skin disappearing, transfixed. It doesn’t get better when he finally tears his eyes away and up to Nick’s face, because Nick’s hair is damp and curly, and he’s wearing his glasses. He looks...like everything Niall wants in this moment, and he’s completely unaware of it.

Nick’s chattering away while Niall tries to get a grip, doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that he isn’t getting a single decent reply, and doesn’t notice that Niall’s having an existential crisis or something right next to him.

“Anyway,” Nick says eventually, slipping under the blanket on his side. “You must be tired. Better get some sleep so we can do this again tomorrow, yeah?”

By now, Niall’s pulled himself together enough to shoot Nick a smile. “Yeah, plan on doing my best again when everyone’s here tomorrow.”

Nick smiles at him, warmly. “Thank you, again. You really are doing more than I could ever ask of you.”

His sincerity makes Niall smile too, watching as Nick takes off his glasses and settles back into his pillow. “It’s no bother,” he lies, very much not thinking that he could get used to this, going to bed with Nick. “I _have_ gotten very nice food out of this already, after all.”

Nick laughs. “Yeah, yeah. Goodnight, then, Niall.”

“Goodnight, Nick,” Niall whispers, then turns his back to him lest he do something stupid.

He wakes up wrapped around Nick again anyway, and this time he doesn’t stay for a cuddle. When Nick grumbles and tries to keep him close while Niall’s untangling their limbs, Niall mumbles something about the shower and flees to the bathroom. It’s just a little much right now.

He stands in the shower, letting the water beat on his shoulders, for a few minutes before he thinks he’s over his crisis enough to face Nick and pretend to be his boyfriend for another day. Even though only a little over a day has already messed with his head more than he would’ve ever thought possible.

“Jesus,” he mumbles, then turns off the shower. “Just a few more hours. You can do this.”

Breakfast and the couple of hours after are easy, relatively speaking. Eileen and Pete just chat with them over breakfast, and nothing is even brought up that Niall would have to lie about. After breakfast, he helps Pete and Nick prepare the dining room for lunch, which means carrying chairs upstairs from the basement and extend the table so it’s big enough for all the Grimshaws. Only the immediate family are coming, but that’s already a decent amount of people, 11 in total as Pete explains. Which also means that Eileen is happy for any help preparing the food, so until the guests arrive, Niall doesn’t have to act any different around Nick than he always has, because he hardly even interacts with him at all.

Andy and family are the first to arrive, and baby Rose is immediately the center of attention again. She really is adorable, so Niall just stands and watches with a big smile how Eileen, Pete and Nick all make fools of themselves to make the little girl laugh.

“Funny to see adults completely lose it around babies, right?” Andy suddenly asks Niall.

“Yeah,” Niall agrees with a laugh. “You do have an exceptionally cute one, though.”

“Thank you,” Andy grins. “How old are you again?”

“24,” Niall says.

“Oh, plenty of time left, then. I was...27 when Shae was born and 45 for Rose.”

“I mean, I haven’t even really thought about it yet,” Niall shrugs. “Doesn’t seem fair to a partner to leave them alone with a baby for months on end, so right now probably isn’t a good time anyway. But Nick and me definitely haven’t been dating for long enough for that conversation.”

Andy laughs. “Of course! No rush, no rush. I just sometimes fall victim to that new parent thing where you can’t seem to talk about anything else.”

“That’s understandable,” Niall says. “No worries, mate.”

“Did you want to hold Rose, too?” Nick asks Niall quietly when everyone finally makes their way to the lounge to settle down while they wait for the rest to arrive.

“No, it’s fine,” Niall says, a little surprised. “Did I seem like I wanted to?”

Nick shrugs. “Not particularly. Just thought you might want to.”

“Nah,” Niall says, “I’m better with kids once they’re a little older. Babies, like, scare me a bit, I guess.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, they’re so small!” Niall defends himself. “What if I do something wrong? What if I hurt them? They just seem so breakable.”

“Niall,” Nick says, sounding equal parts exasperated and fond. “I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“Well, I do,” Niall shrugs, but is interrupted when the doorbell rings.

Nick rushes to open it and lets his sister and her family inside, and the whole loud hellos start up again.

Niall ends up sandwiched between Jane and Liv at the table, and he throws Nick a helpless glance but just gets an equally helpless shrug back. For about an hour, he gets questioned by them about everything he’s ever done in his life, it feels like, both in his private and professional life.

“Will you leave him alone,” Nick interrupts eventually from where he’s sat opposite them when Liv asks if Niall’s ever wanted to - or even did - hook up with one of his bandmates and Niall blushes bright red in reply.

“Okay, okay, sorry,” Liv laughs. “Sorry, Niall. Just wanted to see how far you’d go in trusting me, but that was too far. Sorry.”

“You’re not the first one to ask me that, not by a long shot,” Niall says. “Probably the first one to do it to my face, though.”

Liv laughs again. “Took the crown as most inappropriate once again.”

“Ah well, Nick’s good at testing how far he can push you, too.”

“He is, right? Must be a family thing.”

“I really don’t like how often I hear my name come up in other people’s conversations,” Nick interrupts again.

“It’s all said with love, stop eavesdropping,” Niall teases while Liv nods emphatically.

“I don’t like how you two are teaming up against me, either,” Nick says with narrowed eyes, pointing between the two of them, then laughs at their matching scandalised expressions. “Dear god, what have I gotten myself into?”

~

“It’s funny,” Jane says from Niall’s other side over dessert, “it’s been so long since Nick brought someone home we were starting to get worried.”

“Yeah,” Liv agrees. “Usually he gets bored of anyone he’s dating too quickly to introduce us. Like, he’ll be obsessed and basically in love with them for a few weeks, and then suddenly it’s over. Which is what I meant with commitment issues yesterday, by the way.”

Niall knows this, it’s the main reason he can’t let this crush get any deeper - even if Nick maybe thinks he’s cute right now, he’ll be over it in a few days or weeks, but it doesn’t work like that for Niall - but it still stings to hear it from someone who knows Nick so well.

“Five months is a long time, though, especially considering you’re away so much,” Jane says. “And for the record, I’m really glad it’s you who made the cut.”

At that, Niall manages a smile. “Me, too.”

“Sorry if that came off strange,” Jane adds hurriedly. “I just realised how rude of us it is to say that sort of thing to you. I didn’t mean to insinuate you had to convince Nick you’re not boring or anything.”

“Jane and I are really bringing out the big guns this weekend,” Liv says. “How many times have we put out foot in it now? Anyone still counting?”

Niall cracks a grin that even turns into a short laugh. “Eh, don’t worry. Takes a bit more to offend me.”

After lunch, they all help with the clean-up and then head to the lounge for the relaxed part of the afternoon. In the hall, Nick grabs Niall by the arm and softly asks, “You alright? I know Liv and Jane can be a bit much sometimes and you looked a little...off at some point.”

“It’s fine,” Niall lies, giving Nick a smile that he hopes is convincing enough. “It’s just that I sometimes feel bad for lying to them.”

Nick’s face falls and without thinking, Niall lifts a hand to smooth out the worry lines on his forehead. “No, don’t,” he says quietly, and then, selfishly, kisses Nick on the mouth. It’s just a small peck but for a moment, Niall feels more settled than he has all day. He’s been wanting to do this again since the first time the day before, and he still has an excuse now. It’ll all be over in a few hours.

“Was someone watching?” Nick asks, looking over to the living room, when Niall pulls away.

“Yeah,” Niall lies. “Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s all good. All part of the job,” Nick says, reaching for Niall’s hand. Yeah, _the job_. “Ready to go back in?”

“Yes,” Niall says, entangling their fingers as he takes a deep breath. Two more hours to sit closer to Nick than necessary, two more hours of touching him for no other reason than that he wants to. He’s ready.

~

When they say goodbye after tea, it’s with endless hugs from the entire Grimshaw family, more cheek kisses than they can count, and boxes full of leftover food that Eileen insists they take with them.

“It was so lovely having you here,” she says into Niall’s ear as she hugs him goodbye for the third time. “Come back anytime, yeah?”

“Thank you, Eileen,” Niall says sincerely. “I’ve really enjoyed it here. Thank you for everything.”

She’s wiping her eyes when she pulls away and Niall feels a pang of guilt again. They’ve really all got a place in his heart already.

By the time they finally climb into Nick’s car, Niall’s a little misty eyed himself and Nick keeps throwing him side glances even as he backs out of the driveway.

“Stop starin’ at me,” Niall mumbles, embarrassed.

“You alright, though?” Nick asks carefully.

“Fine,” Niall says, then sighs deeply. “Alright, so I’m a little...dunno, upset. They were all so lovely and in a few weeks or whatever they’ll hate me.”

“No, they won’t,” Nick says softly. “I’ll make sure to take the blame, yeah?”

“D’you want me to write another break-up album then, so they think it’s about you?” Niall asks, reverting to his usual tactic of making jokes when he can’t or doesn’t want to express his other emotions.

This startles a laugh from Nick. “Yeah, go on. I wouldn’t be able to show my face at home for a year at least.”

“But really,” Niall says. “Your family is great.”

“Yeah,” Nick says with a wistful sigh. “They really are, aren’t they? A bit much sometimes, but I do love them. And hey, thank you again. You were great this weekend.”

“It was fun,” Niall says, and he means it. He met lovely people, laughed a lot, had good food and a generally good time. The fact that he had a little existential crisis about his feelings for Nick can be ignored, or at least he’s going to try his damnedest to keep it from Nick.

The drive back down to London is quieter than their drive up, but it’s a comfortable silence. Occasionally someone will say something or hum along to the radio, sometimes Nick turns up the volume if he’s interested in what they’re talking about, but Niall spends most of the time looking out the window. He’s sleepy and warm inside the car and Nick is a very calm driver, so he keeps nodding off.

He wakes up when Nick rubs his shoulder gently, says, “Niall, hun, we’re here.”

For a second, Niall makes to snuggle up to Nick, then wakes up properly and stops himself. “Oh,” he says, voice thick from sleep. “Sorry, fell asleep.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Nick says, amused twist to his mouth. “Don’t worry, I made it back fine even with my co-pilot asleep.”

“Sorry,” Niall mumbles again, rubbing his eyes. “Thanks for driving both ways, though.”

“Of course,” Nick says. “Wouldn’t make you drive places you wouldn’t even be going if it wasn’t for me.”

“Fair enough,” Niall grins, then reaches out to slap Nick’s shoulder a little awkwardly in an attempt to stop himself from trying something else, more embarrassing. “Right, I’ll get my bag, you don’t have to get out.”

“Okay?” Nick says, eyebrows drawn in confusion. “Hey, I’ll see you soon, though? Right? We don’t have to stop hanging out just because this weekend is over.”

Immediately, Niall feels terrible about his cold goodbye. “Yeah, ‘course,” he says softly.

“Great!” Nick’s smiling again, leaning over the middle console to give Niall a hug that he returns, even though it makes his heart feel heavy. “Thanks again, then, and see you soon.”

“Bye, Nick,” Niall says, getting out of the car and taking his bag out of the boot. He waves at Nick once more, then enters the code to his front gate and walks in.

As soon as he’s out of sight, he leans against the wall, taking a few deep breaths. He did it. Now he can work on getting that crush under control before he sees Nick again, and he’ll never have to find out it existed at all. It might’ve been a bad idea to offer himself as the fake boyfriend, but he’ll walk away from this with not more than a black eye, metaphorically speaking.

Willie wants to know all the details as soon as Niall enters the house, but Niall brushes him off with a short recap of the the weekend, leaving out the kissing and any feelings he might have about it, then claims he has to take a shower.

In his room, he flops down onto his bed and just lays there for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling.

The silence is broken when his phone vibrates in his back pocket. Niall turns onto his side to retrieve it, seeing it’s an email alert. Liv Grimshaw has sent him an email with a couple attachments, and he opens it against his own better judgement.

She’s sent him two links - one to all the pictures taken at the restaurant, and one to photobooth pictures, but since the ones with him in it are excluded, they’re attached to the email. He knows what’s on those pictures, and he knows he shouldn’t look at them, should probably delete the email right away, but in a masochistic move, Niall clicks on the first attachment.

The image that pops up is one of him, Nick, Andy and Rose. Niall’s stomach clenches uncomfortably when he sees Nick’s arm wrapped around him, and even more when he notices that Niall’s looking at Rose in his arms, but Nick is looking at him. It looks so real, so much like a couple, and Niall hates that Nick is such a good actor.

There’s more pictures of Niall talking to people, him laughing at something Liv said, Nick and him at the table with Nick’s hand casually resting against the back of Niall’s neck.

It only gets worse when he gets to the photobooth pictures. The first one is of Nick standing behind him, one arm wrapped around Niall in an almost possessive move. Niall’s got the huge paper moustache covering most of his face, but it’s still clear they’re both laughing. The ones of them giving each other piggyback rides almost make Niall laugh, especially the one where he’s carrying Nick. When he swipes right again, the laughter dies in his throat. It’s three pictures in a row, he counts them while he tries to swipe past them with panic clawing at his throat.

In the first one, they’re standing close, looking into each other’s eyes while Niall holds Nick’s face between both of his hands. Nick looks a little like a deer in headlights, but his whole body is already curved down towards Niall.

In the second picture, they’re kissing. Niall’s up on his tiptoes, one hand at the back of Nick’s head. Nick’s arms are wrapped around Niall, one of his hands pressed to Niall’s back with enough pressure that Niall’s arched his back. It looks like anything but a first kiss.

Finally, in the third one, they’re basically in the same position - only they’ve stopped kissing, their faces a finger’s breadth apart. It’s almost worse than the actual kiss, because Niall can see it on his own face so clearly: that he wanted to kiss Nick again.

Niall turns the screen of his phone dark and throws it to the other side of his bed, then covers his face with his hands. He doesn’t know what to do. What if Nick looks at these pictures and sees it too? What if he feels - used, maybe? Like Niall only did this for him so he’d get to kiss him? What if he never wants to see him again?

With a groan, he sits up to reach for his phone again, unlocking it. The photo is still there, and Niall can’t help but look at it again. He zooms in on his face, then on Nick’s, thinks about how much he really quite likes his side profile, and how beautiful he looked from up close like that, and how good kissing him felt. He thinks about how Nick was with Rose, with his mum, with his whole family. Thinks about the way Nick loves so many people unconditionally, how much love he gets in return and how that still seems to surprise him so often. How he is with dogs, especially his own, and with kids in general. How he makes Niall laugh harder than anyone else but still listens attentively and knows exactly when not to joke, what to say to make Niall feel better. He’s such a great and caring person, and Niall...really, really likes him. Which is shit, because a crush is something he could probably get over relatively quickly, but actual feelings are much harder to ignore. But he’s gone and caught himself a bad case of feelings, so he’ll have to deal with that eventually.

Niall buries his face in his pillow, muffling his frustrated groan. He doesn’t know what to do.

~

For a couple of days, Niall can distract himself with tour preparations. They’ve got a new drummer, Alex, and there’s still a lot to work out. Gerry played such an important role that now needs to be filled otherwise, and they as a band still have to learn to play together.

They make progress much quicker than expected though, the chemistry between them just right - within days, Alex doesn’t feel new to any of them anymore. It’s very natural, the music they make, and every cover they try stems from teamwork and sounds amazing. It keeps Niall busy, and happy, and their frequent after-work-hours at the pub usually have him tired enough to fall asleep quickly once he gets home.

So he doesn’t have much time to think about Nick or their situation. Until Nick texts him, that is.

_I demand you come over tonight_ , he’s texted Niall when he wakes up one morning. _It’s been over a week since I last saw you and we said soon! So I say tonight, because you’re going on tour too soon_

A few minutes later, he sent: _sorry I’m being so demanding I hope tonight works, see you then please and thank you x_

_I’ll even make dinner!!! Xxx_

It makes Niall smile, despite himself, so he messages back, _I’ll be there after work, 6.30 ok? Xx_

He gets a few party poppers and a thumbs up back, so that’s that.

At 6.45pm, Niall rings Nick’s doorbell, which he’s very proud of because it’s basically on time - and definitely on time for a day he’s spent working. He runs a nervous hand through his hair, still damp from his shower, and then Nick’s opening the door, accompanied by a very enthusiastic Pig. He’s wearing a striped shirt - just like Niall. They inadvertently match, and Niall tries not to read anything into it.

“Hiya, love,” Nick grins and Niall waves at him before he bends down to pet Pig.

“Hello Piggy, you’re a good girl, yeah?” he says to her, voice taking on that typical tone it does around dogs. “You’re my good girl. And Stinky! Yes, hello, I’ve got two hands, one for each of you.”

Nick laughs above him. “Seems like you missed my dogs much more than me.”

Niall grins up at him from where he’s now sat on the floor. “Maybe I have.” Nick makes a scandalised face and Niall laughs, stretching one arm out towards him. “Help me up?”

Nick grabs his hand and pulls him up, and right into a hug. A tight one, that Niall can’t help but fall into. He’s missed Nick, which is ridiculous because sometimes they went almost a year without seeing each other, and months without talking at all.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Nick says when he finally pulls away. “Join me in the kitchen whenever you’re done with these menaces.”

Niall gives him a silly salute and toes off his shoes while Nick goes back to the kitchen, then sits on the floor with Pig and Stinky Blob a bit longer.

He washes his hands in the guest bathroom and goes to help Nick. Nick waves him off though, so Niall just leans against the kitchen counter to watch him work.

“Since when do you cook again?”

Nick shrugs. “Thought I should take it up again, I do really enjoy it. It was just...you know I love doing the Breakfast Show. It was my dream for so long, and I genuinely love it. But sometimes, it just tires me out, you know? It’s draining, having to get up that early no matter what you did the night before, and for years. Sometimes I just couldn’t work up the energy to do things, even things I love, like cooking.”

“So how’ve you managed it now?” Niall wants to know.

“Well,” Nick says, trailing off before he visibly decides to tell Niall anyway. “You can’t tell anyone yet, it’s not even sure yet, but I’ve been talking to the bosses and there might be a way for me to stop doing the Breakfast Show but stay with Radio 1.”

“Yeah?” Niall asks excitedly. “Nick, that’s great! Congratulations!”

Nick smiles at him, big, then asks, “You don’t want to know how?”

“I mean,” Niall shrugs, “if you can tell me, I’d love to hear. But if you can’t, that’s fine too!”

“No, I can. I trust you, I know you wouldn’t go about gossiping. Well, basically, I’d swap with Greg James. He’s been wanting to do Breakfast for a while, and I could do the afternoons and get back my social life. It’d be perfect.”

“I mean, I’ll miss waking up to your voice,” Niall says, the grinds his teeth willing the blush down once he realises what he’s just said, “but I’m so happy for you, Nick! That sounds like a really good deal. And I definitely won’t mind waking up to Greg’s voice, either. Love him, me.”

“Basically all we need is the OK from up high,” Nick says. “Won’t be made official until a while even if they say yes, but now you know.”

He makes Niall set the table, and Niall’s glad to escape the small kitchen for a little, feels like there’s been some tension since he couldn’t keep his mouth shut at the right time.

Dinner is nice though, Nick’s made a great chicken Alfredo, much less hipster than Niall expected. It feels almost like it used to before the weekend in Oldham.

After dinner, they move to the couch because Nick says he has something he wants to show Niall.

He turns on the TV once they’re sitting and says, “Surprise! We’re watching _Titanic_!”

Niall bursts out laughing. “You really couldn’t wait, could you?”

“You _have_ to see this, Niall!” Nick exclaims. “I can’t have you walk through life not having seen it. Now pay attention, I can’t miss the first look at young Leo.”

Niall grins, shaking his head fondly, and settles back into the couch. Nick has a point though, young Leo is quite the sight.

Niall really must be the last person on Earth to watch this film, he realises, because there are so many things in there that he’s seen referenced somewhere else but never understood it was from Titanic. It’s a good movie, he has to admit, though a bit long. They’ve shifted closer over time, until their shoulders end up pressed together. While Rose and Jack have sex in the car or whatever it is, Niall does his best not to look at Nick at all. His neck feels stiff from how intensely he’s looking right at the TV and nothing else. He feels awkward and his head is kind of hot, and Niall really hopes he’s not blushing like a child watching this kind of scene with their parents.

Nick doesn’t say anything, and Niall doesn’t dare look at him until ten minutes have passed. By then, Nick’s fully immersed in the movie again. Or, more likely, he never even noticed anything off, because he’s not weird like Niall.

Things get dramatic quickly after the Titanic hits the iceberg and it starts to sink. For the first time, Niall understands why people cry over this film - there’s an older couple, together on their bed, not even trying to escape and just accepting death. It’s a small detail, but it makes tears shoot into Niall’s eyes and he has to blink them away.

“Are you crying?” Nick asks from beside him, sounding far too amused for the dramatic scenes taking place on his TV.

“Fuck off,” Niall huffs and wipes his eyes defiantly.

Nick laughs delightedly and shifts beside Niall so he’s facing him. “Oh my god, you are! I made Niall Horan cry with a film!”

Niall glares at him, and he almost doesn’t notice that Nick pronounced his surname completely right for the first time.

Nick stops laughing, reaching out to tap Niall’s chin once. It’s innocent enough, but to Niall, suddenly the world seems narrowed down to the two of them on Nick’s sofa.

“Didn’t mean to tease you,” Nick is saying, and then he’s not saying anything anymore, because Niall is kissing him.

For a few glorious seconds, Nick kisses back, but then he puts a hand to Niall’s chest and pushes him back, spluttering. “But…but? You’re straight?!”

“Uhh,” Niall makes, too surprised to feel hurt about the rejection yet. “What? No.”

“What do you mean, no?” Nick almost screeches.

“No, I’m not straight,” Niall says. “What about me pretending to be your boyfriend made you think I was?”

“I thought you were just doing it to be nice! How was I supposed to know?”

“Well, I reckon I never did outright tell you that I’m bi,” Niall admits. “Um, surprise?”

“Yeah, surprise alright,” Nick says, looking at him so intently Niall feels like squirming under his gaze.

He doesn’t, though, just looks back. Which is why he sees Nick moving closer again, but it’s still a surprise when he doesn’t stop until Niall can count his eyelashes as they flutter shut right before he connects their lips again.

Niall sighs into it, relieved, and lets Nick pull him closer by the waist. He clings to Nick’s shoulder with one hand and buries the other one in Nick’s hair like he did the first time they kissed.

This time, though, Nick groans at the touch and bites at Niall’s lip before soothing the burn with his tongue. Niall opens up for him immediately and echoes the groan, sliding a hand from Nick’s shoulder to press into his back.

“This does mean we can kiss some more, right?” Nick asks, pulling away suddenly. “Just because you’re not straight doesn’t mean you have to snog me, obviously.”

For a moment, Niall considers taking the out, because Nick’s words have reminded him of what this is for Nick: some snogging, maybe getting off with each other a couple of times, nothing more. But Nick’s right there, and he wants to kiss Niall right now, so Niall’s defences crumble as quickly as they rose, and he rolls his eyes at Nick.

“Really, Grimmy,” he says, and the nickname feels strange in his mouth, almost too casual. “ _I_ kissed you first, remember? You can snog me as much as you want.”

“Careful what you wish for,” Nick grins, and then his mouth is back on Niall’s. They snog for ages on Nick’s couch, eventually lying down on it, and Niall refuses to think about anything but this moment.

In this position, Niall doesn’t have to stretch and strain his neck to kiss Nick, and he could probably do it for hours on end. Nick’s hands are large and warm on his body, his back, his legs, in the back pockets of his jeans, and - finally - on his skin under his t-shirt.

“Yeah?” Nick asks against Niall’s collarbone, tugging on the hem of his shirt and Niall nods breathlessly.

“Yes.”

Their shirts are off quickly and then Nick is kissing Niall’s chest, licks one of his nipples - Niall gasps and arches his back - and then down his stomach. He presses kisses to the skin along the waistline of Niall’s Calvins and Niall breathes hard, hands scrambling for hold in the fabric of the couch. Nick sucks a bruise into the skin at Niall’s hip, hands pulling the waistline of Niall’s jeans further down.

“Can I?” he murmurs, hands on the button.

“Yeah,” Niall gasps, then, “wait, no.”

Nick pulls back immediately and Niall closes his eyes, sits up to pull his knees to his chest and hide his arousal, and his face. He wants this, wants Nick, wants his mouth and hands on every part of him - but not like this. It’s suddenly clear as day to him that there would be no going back after this. If he sleeps with Nick now, he’ll have his heart broken when Nick inevitably gets bored of him, and he won’t be able to go back to just being friends.

Niall’s friends with many of his exes, but only those where he never crossed into the romantic feelings stage. The kind of feelings Niall has for Nick happen to him much less often than just sexual attraction - and if he gets his heart broken, there’s no coming back from that.

“What is it?” Nick asks, and he sounds concerned. “Niall, you don’t have to be embarrassed or anything. I meant it, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Are you alright?”

“It’s not that,” Niall mumbles, forehead still pressed to his knees.

The couch shifts when Nick gets up from next to him, and Niall could cry. He’s ruining it all.

Nick comes back though, and Niall hears him set down a glass on the table in front of Niall before he sits back down on the couch. He turns off the TV, where the DVD menu has been playing on a loop - the film must’ve ended while they were snogging, Niall didn’t even notice.

“Brought you some water,” Nick says softly. “Talk to me, Niall. What’s wrong?”

“I’m an idiot, that’s what’s wrong,” Niall moans, and it startles a laugh from Nick.

“You’re not an idiot, what are you on about?”

“I can’t,” Niall starts, and chances a glance at Nick. He looks ruffled, still a little flushed, and downright edible, which doesn’t make Niall’s life any easier. He swallows and pushes on, “I can’t do this. Not when it means something this different to us.”

“What do you mean?” Nick asks. “Niall, can you look at me? You’re not making sense, what are you talking about?”

Niall shakes his head, still hiding behind his knees. “If I look at you, I won’t be able to explain anything,” he says. “It’s hard enough like this.”

“What is?”

“I can’t just have this be a hookup, or like a casual thing for a couple of weeks until you get bored of me. I know it’s stupid and I’m sorry it’s happened but the feelings are there now and I need a little space to be able to be just friends again, so maybe we shouldn’t hang out until I go on tour,” Niall rushes out in almost one breath.

“What?” Nick asks again, and then his hand is on Niall’s knee, moving it sideways just enough to get a glance at Niall’s face. Niall looks back, mortified.

“Sorry,” he says.

“Who said I’d get bored of you?” Nick asks, frowning at Niall. It’s not what Niall expected, and it’s surprising enough that he looks up, sitting up straighter.

“Um, experience. And your sister. Or Liv, maybe.”

“Oh my god, you didn’t seriously listen to what they said, did you? I still know myself better, don’t I?”

“Well, I’ve seen it happen!” Niall defends himself. “And you’ve said it on the radio. You get bored of romantic interests as soon as you get to know them properly.”

“Yeah,” Nick says, “Exactly. As soon as I get to know them and realise they’re not all I hyped them up to be in my head when I first got into them. But Niall, I already knew you anyway! And you’re the opposite of boring. Getting to know you better over the past few weeks has been the best thing that’s happened to me in ages, and seeing you with my family was, like, the highlight of that. Christ, you’re so much more than just the funny, nice guy in One Direction and sometimes it feels like you don’t even know it.”

Niall stares at him. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I like you, Niall Horan. So fucking much,” Nick says, a careful, slightly embarrassed smile on his face. “And I think you were trying to say that you like me, too, with that confusing speech of yours. And if not, please tell me right now so I can stop embarrassing myself further and go back to telling myself it’s never gonna happen like I did when I thought you were straight-”

Niall claps a hand over Nick’s mouth, laughing.

“Shut up, Nick,” he says, then retracts his hand when he’s sure that Nick has stopped talking. “I _was_ trying to tell you I like you. But are you sure you wanna do this, like, feelings and long distance and everything? ‘Cause I’m all in if you are.”

“If you’re okay with dating someone with absolutely horrendous hours, then yes. Your feelings don’t scare me, I have them too. For me, this isn’t a question I have to think about twice. I would’ve taken you to my dad’s birthday as my real boyfriend if I’d known you weren’t straight.”

“I kissed you!” Niall says, and he suddenly can’t stop grinning. “Once even without anyone looking! I thought I was being so obvious.”

“You lied about someone looking?” Nick asks, and he’s grinning just as much. “You cheeky bastard.”

“I really don’t care about your hours, by the way,“ Niall says, “Just to make that clear. Especially since they’ll probably change soon anyway. So now that we’ve established that we both want this, can we please get back to kissing?”

“Yes,” Nick says decisively, already leaning in.

“Wait,” Niall says, and Nick looks worried for a split second. “You can take off your shirt again immediately, you won’t need that.”

At that, Nick grins wolfishly, takes off his shirt and throws it on the ground next to them. And then he does as he’s told, and kisses Niall.

~

Much later, in Nick’s bed, Nick suddenly asks, “Is it okay if I tell Aimee, and maybe Pix and Alexa? I don’t want to out you but they can always tell when I had great sex and I’m terrible at lying to them.”

Niall blinks his eyes open against Nick’s neck and grins. “Great sex, hm?”

Nick pinches his shoulder where his arm is resting. “Shut up, you know it was.”

Niall hums happily. “That’s true.” He strokes his hand slowly up and down Nick’s side. “And yeah, tell your friends. All of them, if you want. They know when to keep stuff private, right?”

“Yeah, I can promise you that,” Nick says, rolling onto his side to look at Niall.

His hair is still damp from the shower they took earlier, and it’s really curly like this. Niall lifts a hand and pushes it through the curls, watches as Nick’s eyes flutter shut. He bites his lip and repeats the motion. Nick opens his eyes again and shakes his head a little before he tightens his arms around Niall and pulls him closer.

“You’re a menace,” he says, kissing him, short and sweet. Niall pouts when Nick pulls back, whining quietly before he ducks his head closer, nuzzling Nick’s neck. “I have to get up in less than four hours.”

“I’m not making you do anything you don’t want,” Niall mumbles, pressing kiss after kiss along Nick’s jaw.

When Nick groans, Niall can feel the vibrations of his chest against his own chest, and then he’s being pushed onto his back.

“I’m blaming you if I fall asleep on live radio in the morning.”

Niall just grins up at Nick. “Can’t wait.”

~

Niall wakes up for the first time when Nick presses a kiss to his forehead as he’s about to leave. “There’s breakfast stuff in the kitchen,” Nick whispers when he sees Niall’s awake. “You can stay, if you want.”

Niall nods, still half asleep, and thinks he says, “see you later,” but then he’s already asleep again.

The next time he wakes up, it’s already almost 8am, so he turns on the radio to listen to Nick, a little curious if he’s gonna sound any different. Mostly, though, Nick sounds like he’s in a great mood. Niall lies in Nick’s bed, smiling to himself, and thinks that with how little sleep Nick got, he shouldn’t be in such a good mood. He is, though, clearly, and Niall feels giddy with happiness.

He grabs his phone - it’s charging on Nick’s cord, he must’ve found it and plugged it in this morning before he left - and texts Nick a row of smiling emojis when the next song starts playing.

Nick immediately messages back a kissy face, then, _you up already?_

_Might fall asleep again . Your bed’s comfy !_ Niall texts back, then takes a quick selfie of half his face and chest, down to where Nick’s duvet starts, and sends that as well.

_Cheeky_ , Nick texts and with a smirking emoji: _stay where you are!_

Niall just messages him the sleepy emoji and wriggles deeper into the pillows, still smiling to himself.

Listening to Nick’s voice on the radio, Niall pictures a future where this becomes a routine whenever he’s in London, sleeping in and waiting for Nick to return from work, at least for as long as he’ll keep doing Breakfast. It’ll be even better once they get to wake up together. He imagines a future where they tell Nick’s family the truth and they’ll maybe be a little bit angry about being lied to but mostly happy that their relationship is real now, where Nick visits him on tour and Niall comes back to London any chance he gets. Maybe they’ll get another dog, a King Charles Spaniel, and call him Bruce because Niall thinks dogs with people names are funny, and as an homage to Bruce Springsteen. Maybe eventually, Nick will start mentioning him on the radio, will casually say “my boyfriend” when telling a story. Maybe someday he’ll even say his name, after they’ve made their relationship official. Maybe things will go like that, and maybe they won’t and everything will be completely different - Niall’s looking forward to finding out either way. He’s getting ahead of himself, but Niall’s pretty sure they’ve got a good thing going, and he’s not planning on letting Nick go again anytime soon. Even if he doesn’t want a third dog. He’s definitely gonna have to ask Nick what he thinks about King Charles Spaniels, though, Niall thinks sleepily.

It’s a good morning.

When he wakes up again, it’s past 10 and Clara Amfo is on, so Niall stretches and gets out of bed. He finds some clean pants and one of Nick’s t-shirts to put on - it’s big on him, but it smells like Nick - and rummages through the bathroom until he finds an unused toothbrush as well.

After a shower and brushing his teeth, he heads to the kitchen to find breakfast, stopping on the way to pet the dogs. They don’t seem very surprised he’s still here.

“Might be around more often,” he tells them, and Pig just wags her tail lazily.

Niall’s just cleaning up his breakfast stuff when the front door opens, Pig and Stinky both racing there. Niall crosses the kitchen and hears a woman’s voice say: “No, I’m not. At least not as surprised as you clearly were, I saw that one coming from miles away. Please, Nick, he’s been laughing too much at your jokes since at least 2015. You’re not _that_ funny, love.”

Niall’s leaning in the doorway, laughing quietly, and both people in the doorway turn to look at him. It’s Nick and his friend Aimee, who’s smiling at him excitedly.

“She’s right, you know,” he teases, and Aimee laughs delightedly.

“Hiii, Niall!” she says, “It’s so lovely to meet you!”

“You too,” Niall says, “Sorry I’m not dressed for company.”

“Eh, at least you’re dressed at all,” she laughs, and Nick huffs, but he’s smiling at Niall.

Nick looks tired now, but he’s wearing a soft jumper that looks great on him and Niall is torn between wanting to look at him forever and being wrapped up in Nick’s arms and that warm jumper. They just stand there staring at each other for a few moments, until Aimee gives Nick a push and he stumbles a little and glares at her before walking up to Niall.

“Good morning,” he says quietly, and Niall smiles up at him.

“Welcome home.”

Nick kisses him, and Niall lifts a hand, places it at the back of his head the way he likes and kisses him back, happily. When Nick pulls him in by the waist and licks into his mouth, Niall absently thanks whoever is up there for the foresight to brush his teeth before breakfast.

“I like this t-shirt on you,” Nick murmurs, pulling away a few inches and tugging on the hem of the shirt Niall is wearing. “Looks much better on you.”

He leans back a little, taking Niall in, then says in a low voice, “Those pants, too. All my clothes look better on you, apparently.”

Niall gives him a few short kisses, one hand snaking under Nick’s jumper and pressing into his warm skin. “Missed you.”

“So, I think I’m gonna go again,” Aimee says from the door, sounding amused.

Niall stops kissing Nick, a little embarrassed, and looks over Nick’s shoulder at her.

“Sorry,” he starts, but she waves him off.

“I get it, don’t worry. The way you two can’t keep your hands off each other - me being here wouldn’t be much fun for any of us. I don’t wanna intrude on your first morning together, and Sunday’s in the car waiting for me anyway.”

Sunday is her daughter, Niall knows, about a year old. She’s one of the babies Nick keeps going on about.

“Maybe we can do dinner or something, so we can meet properly,” Niall says, pushing Nick’s hand away when he tries to sneak it under the waistband of his pants. He’s a little distracted right now, yes, but he means it. He’s heard so much about Nick’s friends, he can’t wait to meet them all. “All of you, if you want. Nick’s started cooking again.”

“Sure,” Aimee says, opening the door. Niall can see her shaking her head fondly as she looks back at them once more. “Bye, you two! Be safe!”

Nick doesn’t reply, too busy kissing Niall’s neck and Niall just waves at her, flustered. Nick’s hands are on his arse the second the door falls shut and Niall laughs a little breathlessly.

“Aren’t you tired?” he asks and Nick grins.

“Nah, not anymore,” he says. “I am taking you to bed right now, though.”

“Okay,” Niall agrees, giggling and wrapping his legs around Nick’s hips when he picks him up like it’s nothing. “All that working out was good for something, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” Nick says, kicking the bedroom door shut behind them. “And I do yoga, too, so I’m really flexible. Just you wait.”

**Author's Note:**

> tell me what you think or find me on tumblr @ farfromthstars! i need more people to talk to about this ship, nick/niall is criminally underrated :(


End file.
